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Show THE OMAHA TRANSFER QUESTION, QUES-TION, On U. P. Train, Weber Canyon, April 18, 1872. Editors Herald : In your article of this morning, "The Union Pacific Terminus Question," Ques-tion," you seem to labor under a mis-approhenshion mis-approhenshion of some quite import ant facts. The great bridge at Omaha is built under a special charter from congress, which authorized the company to issue bonds, not to exceed in amount two i million.i and a half of dollars. The ! act also authorizes tolls to be charged sufficient to keep the structure in repair, re-pair, to pay the interest on tho bonds and to establish a sinking fund. These bonds have all been sold in Europe, and to raise tho funds to provide for the items above enumerated, there ia required some sic hundred dollars or upward for each and every day in the year. This the bridge must earn from the traffic which crosses it. You will therefore see the necessity of charging such rates for tho business done as will likely meet the requirements of the case. Again, a reader of your article would infer that this charge of ten dollars per car is a new burden imposed on the country's commerco since the completion comple-tion of the bridge; when the fact is that this is not only not the case, but the present transfer is fifty per cent, cheaper than has been heretofore exacted ex-acted for the same service. Doubtless if tho present rates arc found to yield more than the money required, they will be lessened so as still more to relieve the traffic seeking to cross the Missouri at that point, which you justly predict is speedily to increase to enormous proportions; and so that the bridgo will provo of the greatest convenience and aid to commerce, com-merce, as tho act recites, 'for the more perfect connection of all railroads" rail-roads" that center there. It would surely be a good and desirable desir-able thing if this great bridge could be made free to the public. But, as the case stands, I do not see why the shipper ship-per of ores from Cottonwood, or any other shipper, will complain of reasonable reason-able tolls over this bridge (all the time subject to regulation by congress) any moro readily or on any better grounds than of the rates charged over flie Utah Central or Union Pacific railroads rail-roads for the same commodity. The holders of the bridge bonds most likely can see no reasons for making the bridgo free that do not apply with equal force to making the roads free. Good faith demands that each enterprise enter-prise earns enough money to pay its obligations, and the public, whose cou-, cou-, venience is vastly promoted, will, as in all such cases, have to "pay toll;" in this instance, however, not higher than allowed by congress. I think you will see from what I have written that some points of moro or less weight escaped your notice when you penned your article of this morning; morn-ing; and believing full well that you do not desiro to view things from a wrong standpoint, I have hastily, and under such difficuties as a train in lively motion mo-tion furnishes, pencilled the foregoing ideas, intending to send the same to you from Evanston, where we meet the ' train westward bound. Very truly yours, Ezra Millard, |