Barrister News, Volume 13, Number 1, Summer, 1965 Page: 4
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motor freight routes, 1,871 miles of pipe line, ware-
housing, Bankers Leasing Corporation, approximate-
ly four million acres of non-transportation lands, and
mineral interests in excess of a million acres. This
is the history of one man's achievement in thirty
years from rodman to President of one of the largest
and most successful corporations in the United
States.
The Southern Pacific Railway Company began
as the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Rail-
way Company. When the line was completed from
Houston to San Antonio on February 5, 1877, it be-
came the first railroad to reach San Antonio. For
several days there was much fanfare, rejoicing, cere-
mony, parades, brass bands, pennants and flags fly-
ing in the air, and much speech making by great
dignitaries and executives. San Antonio's population
of 20,000 vibrated with excitement. At long last the
frontiers of the Southwest would open. Historians
tell us that the famed and venerable Menger Hotel
was gaily decorated in the spirit of a San Antonio
fiesta. The San Antonio Express said, "The scene
was one of dazzling splendor and one that is seldom
witnessed by any people."
Governor R. B. Hubbard of Texas had this to
say: "We should become a power to command re-
spect in the councils of nations. We e are all living in
the greatest period in the world's history and our
capacity to improve is greater than ever. The rail-
road is of great influence in encouraging develop-
ment, and we can rejoice in the near approach of the
day when Texas shall have two million people and
when it will rank with New York and Pennsylvania
as one of the greatest and most populous states of
the Union." Five years later, on January 12th,
Southern Pacific became transcontinental when the
rails from the East and the West met in Texas near
the confluence of the Pecos and Rio Grande Rivers.
Our interest in government and civic affairs
must be constant. Mr. Biaggini stressed this fact in
his Commencement address to the 1958 graduating
class of St. Mary's University. On that occasion he
said, "Do not hesitate to interest yourself in local
politics and government at all levels. The conduct of
your government affairs is a very serious business.
If you do not raise your voice in these matters you
will find that there are others who would take all
voice away from you. In the field of social and charit-
able work there are many opportunities to work at
different levels of activity and responsibility. All of
these activities offer opportunities for community
services and you are now part of an intellectual frat-
ernity whose skills and judgments are needed. So I
urge you to serve when you can. The net result will
be a finer community in which to live and for you
the satisfaction of services and participation in a
job well done."
Mr. Biaggini lives by this rule. He has given of
himself to civic affairs, beyond the daily toils of a
busy railroad executive. He is a director of Junior
Achievement of San Francisco, Inc., and a director
and member of the executive committee of United
Bay Area Crusade and its former campaign chair-
man; he has also been very active in the San Fran-
cisco Chamber of Commerce.
In recognition of his executive ability in the
management of the great Southern Pacific Company
4enterprises, his activities in civic affairs throughout
the years, his initiative, his attributes as an out-
standing citizen, and the honor which he has brought
upon this University and its teachers, Dean Ernest
A. Raba had the privilege and honor to recommendfor the degree of Doctor
Mr. Benjamin F. Biaggini.of Laws, Honoris Causa,
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The Barristers Student Bar Association, St. Mary's University School of Law. Barrister News, Volume 13, Number 1, Summer, 1965, periodical, 1965; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth426967/m1/4/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting St. Mary’s University School of Law.