Central, and Southern Pacific Railways. The Pacific railroad became a sectional issue between the North and the Cotton South so that at no time prior to the outbreak of the Civil War was it possible to obtain legislation establishing such a road.
When the Lower South seceded and the Union was temporarily contracted, the time seemed ripe for Congressional action, especially since a railway was needed to bind the far western communities to the Union as well as for defence against the Indians. On July i, 1862, President Lincoln signed a bill "to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the. Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes." The Union Pacific Railway Company, with a capital stock of $100,000,000, was organized to build the road. The company was to receive five alternate sections of land on each side of its right of way, and an additional subsidy in the form of $16,000 of United States bonds, bearing six per cent interest, for every mile of road constructed. Later modifications of these terms made them still more advantageous to the company.
The Central Pacific. A second company, called the Central Pacific Company, which ultimately constructed a large proportion of the total mileage, had its origin in California. Railroad agitation there had been persistent and almost continuous since 1850. A number of projects were broached which proved unsuccessful, yet with characteristic optimism the peo
