to reconsideration, and I shall not leave this point until you add
another five dollars to your consideration. You can certainly better
afford to do that than to throw away thirty days' board and the ten
dollars which you have already paid me besides."

The diplomacy of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railway companies
was the same as that of the Alton tramp. They had found Congress as
generous as the tramp had found the Mayor of Alton, and now reproached
themselves for their modesty and resolved to bring the pliability of
Congress to a severer test. They again appeared before that body in 1864
and asked that their charter be so amended as to grant to them ten
alternate sections instead of five on each side of the road, and also
all the iron and coal found within ten miles of their track, which had
previously been reserved by Congress. And in addition to this they asked
that they be authorized to issue their own mortgage bonds on their
respective roads to an amount equal to the bonds of the United States,
and that the lien of the United States bonds be made subordinate to the
lien created by the companies' bonds. By the act of Congress, July 2,
1864, all these demands were granted, and the two companies were thus
virtually presented with their roads and were at the same time given
permission to mortgage this gift of the people and divide the proceeds
among their shareholders, many of whom had received their stock chiefly
in consideration of their influence in and out of Congress. The
contribution of the United States to these companies on account of their
main lines has not been far from $80,000,000, of which over $52,000,000
was paid in bonds, and the remainder in lands, which aggregated about
23,000,000 acres. The whole line from Council Bluffs to Sacramento is
1,780 miles long. It will thus be seen that the national contribution
was about $45,000 per mile, besides the right of way and all timber,
iron and coal found within ten miles of the road. There is no doubt that
this contribution was equal to, if it did not exceed, the actual cost of
the road. There has been an erroneous impression abroad which has
likened the Pacific road to those wonderful and very expensive lines
which cross the Andes and the Alps. Those who have not crossed the
continent can hardly believe that the construction of this line was
neither more difficult nor more expensive than that of any of the
numerous railroads crossing the mountain ra