William M. Evarts to Hugh McCulloch, 1 September 1868

September 1, 1868. Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary of the Treasury. Sir: I hope to be able to give a full opinion upon the questions arising in the matter of the Government subsidy to the Union Pacific Railroad in a few days, as I have formed my conclusions, and have only to reduce them to writing. In the meantime, the result to which I have come enables me to say that, in my opinion, the conditions of proper assurance to the Government, of the general character of the structure, do not require that the course hitherto pursued should be departed from, in respect to the sections now presented for acceptance. The safety of the public interests will be sufficiently secured by applying the new conditions to future sections of the road, and enabling the company to accommodate its action to these new conditions, without embarrassing the progress of the work. I have the honor to be, Respectfully yours, Wm. M. Evarts, Attorney General.