| Show r i ac P cos 0 ulo glo o THE PEOPLE vr OV UTAH PK oa on no one point polut for many manx many ysais years have the people of utah exhibited J more of their characteristic patience andl andi forbearance than in the case of the railroad contracts for fot grading which they have havo filled far the union pacific I 1 and central contral pacific railroad companies upward of fifteen months aga ago a i contract was wm made by the he union pacific railroad company Coin pany through its super in of construction and engineer 8 B aeed reed esq with president B Bv young for the grading of a lar large e extent of its ita line con considerable side rable ruble anai anxiety WY was displayed by the U P it E R at the time the contract was closed to have the work commenced immediately and the company promised that if the contractor would collect his men and teams it would have the line lino surveyed and made ready for the graders within a few days with this understanding large numbers of men and teams were concentrated on various points on the line but weeks passed away and still they were waiting for the line to be located the non fulfillment fulfilment of this agreement on the part of the company was a most serious loss to the contractor and his sub contractors it was not only a loss at the time tune but it was a cause of incalculable culpable loss joss afterwards many who could have haye finished their jobs when tile the weather was favorable were thrown behind hind and had to complete them when the expense of grading was very much en enhanced by the severity of the weather the tools also which had been promised by the company were not forthcoming by the time stipulated and many of the sub contractors were put to serious inconvenience and heavy ex pense to obtain the necessary implements to keep their teams and hands employed but notwithstanding all these disadvantages the contractors kept steadily at their work E every very one tone ore felt that thattie the reputation of the people of odthe the entire territory was to some ex geuin his hands if he did his wo work r k W well weil al they would get the credit if he failed to fulfill fulfil expectations they would be blamed SO B every man was put upon his mettle to do his work in a satisfactory mannar manner and by the time desired by the company and it was acknowledged by every railroad man and every traveler capable of judgment who passed over lover the road that on no part of thel the line from the missouri to the commencement men cement of president youngs contract was there any grading to compare for completeness and finish with that done lone by his sub contractors the people of this territory may well bo be proud of their share of the grading grading of the great continental highway for or their work will bear the closest scrutiny and their patience perseverance rey hey language and general demeanor while on the line were such auch as to extort praise from all who were brought in in contact with them when the distance taa graded including that done on the tw V wo lines from ogden to the pro moo tory by various pash pali polities parties ties of our people on the two roads is reckoned it wui win be found to be but little if any snort short df ios four hundred miles and in grading c this amount of road we have never neven heard that either company has ex expressed pressed prec sed any other feeling than one of sau sai sf action at the manner la in which the wor khas been performed er formed at the time the contract was made with the union pacific railroad it was clearly understood and so stated we be writing that everything due on the work should be promptly paid when the grading should be finished and accepted relying belying 0 on this agreement I 1 and thinking the themselves perfectly safe hundreds of men sub contractors and others incurred debts to carry on and complete their jobs farmers merchants bankers and people of all classes when they kne knew vr that the money was coming to work people from the company iet let them have money good goods grain an and aud 1 I 0 other t h er me an s with 0 u t the leas ast t hes bes besita I 1 ta tion calculating confidently on being paid I 1 when the grading was accepted all ali felb felt as sure that the money would be paid by the railroad company according to agreement as if they had it in their hands and they made all ail their arrangements accordingly the last tie was laid and the two lines were connected on the loth da day y of last may previous to that date t be the grading had been finished and accepted but if any cause for delay in making the final payments pay ments menta for the work existed previous to that memorable event they ceased then the road bedwas bednas bed was graded the ties and rails were laid and the cars were running bearing passengers and freight from one ocean to the other but the people were not paid aud and from that day until the pie present sent though the claims have been pressed they yet et remain unsettled the union pacific railroad company owes to the people of this thia territory upwards u of a million of dollars for the grading of its road though we have llave dwelt more particularly barly upon the contract with the union pacific railroad company our remarks are equally applicable to the central rael pacific fie the latter company has hag also failed to fulfill its agreement and keep its faith with its contra contractors C tors ia id this territory and though it does not owe so fio large an amount as the U P R it the people who have worked d on its line are seriously distressed for their pay and the entire community is embarrassed eay barr arr assed in consequence we have not touched upon this subject previously in our columns hoping hopin 9 that these companies would yet yot with all their slackness make the amcnda honorable and as far as it was in their power f ill fill their theli contracts and agreements but now forbearance ceas ceases es to be a virtue the situation of affairs here at the present time demands that there should be some plain talking on this subject if the credit of the people is endangered or if our business men fail to meet their engagements ordinary justice requires that the cause of this should be known A moments reflection will convince every person that the withholding of a million and a quarter of dollars from a community no larger than tiran ours must produce Iro duee duce serious loss embarrassment and distress had there been no hopes of pay held out the consequences would not have been as serious as they are for every man would then have known what to depend alpon and would have arranged accordingly but as it is there is not a busine business as man in the country who is not affected and some very seriously by the failure of these companies to pay for their work and hundreds of poor men are literally destitute of the necess necessaries arles aries of life for the want of the money which they worked hard to earn we know knor of sub contractors who have stripped themselves and ran heavily into debt to pay their thein h hands ands we do not believe that these roads could have been traveled in safety in any other state or territory if the companies running them had treated the settlers as the U P R R and C P R R have treated the people of this territory their conduct is utterly indefensible fen sible and is unwise and uda unjust in the highest degree it is unwise because bebau s e it is not to the interest of any railroad company to oppress and outrage a community upon whose favor it is dependent for traffic or to leave the workmen who have built the road exasperated for the want of their pay its injustice is so apparent that it needs no comment we shall refer to this subject again in a future article |
