Whatever superficial or partial writers may say of the benevolent
origin of railroads, the fact is that railroad construction was
ushered in by a widespread corruption of legislators that put to
shame the previous debauchery in getting bank charters. In nearly
every work on the subject the assertion is dwelt upon that railroad
builders were regarded as public benefactors; that people and
legislatures were only too glad to present them with public
resources. There is just a slight substance of truth in this alleged
historical writing, but nothing more. The people, it is true, were
eager, for their own convenience, to have the railroads built, but
unwilling to part with their hard-wrung taxes, their splendid public
domain, and their rights only that a few men, part gamblers and part
men of energy and foresight, should divert the entire donation to
their own aggrandizement. For this attitude the railroad promoters
had an alluring category of arguments ready.


CASH THE GREAT PERSUADER

Through the public press, and in speeches and pamphlets, the people
were assured in the most seductive and extravagant language that
railroads were imperative in developing the resources of the country;
that they would be a mighty boon and an immeasurable stimulant to
progress. These arguments had much weight, especially with a
population stretched over such a vast territory as that of the United
States. But alone they would not have accomplished the ends sought,
had it not been for the quantities of cash poured into legislative
pockets. The cash was the real eloquent persuader. In turn, the
virtuous legislators, on being questioned by their constituents as to