The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1849-09-21
5. NM. V. Rnllrond.

Tor or against description, by the county,
10 the stock OF the Scioto aud Hooking Val
ley Rail Road, or, in fact to decide by their
voting, at this lime. whether or not this
county shall ever have the benefit of an i'm
provement so desirable and of so much I'm.
pOrtance to this county, it seems to me that
this all important question, a question that
involves more vital consequences to the
people of this county and all the other coun-
! ties through which the road is to pass, than
any question that ever has or ever will re.
quire the consideration OF the people ofthese,
and especially of our own county.
| am apprehensve that, unless the people
are aroused to sense Of their duty, and the
vast benefits that will be derived from this
road to the people of this county are ex-
planned to them; bad counsel will prevail
and loss and ruin to the people of this county
will be the inevitable consequence. Shall
we be so blind to our own interest as to let
an opportunity pass which we will never be
able to .regain-to have a rail road pass
through the centre Of our good county,
which is destined to be the greatest thor
oughfare, if made from east to west, in this
State! for there will be rail road mi ade from
St Louis TO Cincinnati, and one at no dis
tant day, from Cincinnati to ChlIicolhe, in
tersecting the s. & II. V. road at the latter
place; and lntersecting our road at Newark,
with central road running east, will make
our road link in straight chain from st.
Louis to the eastern cities; it will then be
part of the shortest, and consequently the
cheapest road, for travel and transportation
from east to west and from west to east,
and therefore 1t will be The greG thorough
! fare. We know, too, that there is not in
this ST ate nor any other State better,
more fertile and productive, d more dense
Iy populatiod section of country, than there
is between Newark and Portsmouth, through
which this road is destined to pass, running
through five counties and partly through
the sixth, touching the county seat or capi-
tai in euch county, aud thus inducements
held out to the road for business that have
no parallelin this State. /
The vast amount of produce, raised in
these and some adjoining counties, and des
tined to be carried off by this road, is almost
ncalcuabe for south ofthis road, between
it and the Ohio, there can never be an i'm
provement made, and the largest part of that
section Of country lying between this road
and the river OHIO must depend upon this
road for its transportation; hence this road
will have larger and better country to ope
rate in than any road, that is now made, OF
hereafter may be made, in any other section
Of our State.
know that neatly one half of the pro-
duce, principally corr, now raised in these
counties, especially in our own county, is
fed to stock unproitably; because ii cannot
be exported for want of the necessary fa-
cilitles, the canals being navigabe only for
short periods and otherwise insufficient, and
the farmer would obtain a good price for his
corn when he is obliged to feed it to stock at
home unproftGbly.
Our farmers must sell their produce, feed.
ing it TO stock has of late years become an
Improbable business, because the prairies
in Illinois, Indiana, &C, are furnishing Eat
hogs and cattle at too low rate. and they
will in lew years furnish nearly all that is
wanted in that line, cheaper than Our far
mers possibly can furnish it; mark 1t! Let
us have this rail road then and we can
do well too by raising corn; we can export
It in winter as well as in summer, and then
It will go quick too, and not rot in vessels
before it reaches the market.
That this question, whether the county
shall take stock in an improvement of so vast
importance to the people, especially the far
mefs Of this county, has opposition, cannot
bc denledi some four citizens oppose sub
scripton, because they are told by some
one, that the amount of money the Commits
sioners may borrow and invest in this road
must be paid by tax Now every body ought
10 know that the money that may be Dor.
rowcd and invested IN this road by the Com
mlssonerS,will create a stock in this road for
the county, AMI so soon as the road is finish
ed and IN operation, this stock will draw a
dividend, or interest, not possibly less than
lO, or may be, as high as 10 per cent per
year, when at the same time he county
pays Jut 9, or at most Z per cent, for the
money thus invested, leaving a balance or
profit to the county Of from 3 TO s per cent,
or from three to eight thousand dollars; so
that the investment, instead OF being bur
den on the county, will be u source of profit
to il. All that is asked in the way oftax of
the people Of this county, is the paying of
The interest on the money the Commissions
ers may borrow and invest, while the road is
making; aiter the road is made, the stock will
pay lis own interest and pay the county
large sum besides, at least 5000 dollars.
Some of our citizens are apprehensive
that if the county should vote for subscrip.
ton, that the funds might be mlsmanaged
and thereby the county be made the looser.
| for one apprehend no such thing; if the
Commissioners borrow one hundred thou
sand dollars, we shall have one hundred
Thousand dollars worth of stock in the raj
road, there is no shaving or shullling about il;
the Commissioners receive their pay per day
and that is all they can and will claim, and
no more The affairs of the road will be man
aged bya board of directors, composed of
honorable business men, of whom each
county, through which the road may pass
will select a proportion from its own clti
zens; thus the stock of all the counties and
also of individuals will be managed alike
and the dividends or interest accruing from
the road be made known from time to time
and all will have an equal share in it.
There are some Of our citizens opposing
county subscription, under the impression
that the road will be made wahou the coun.
ty taking stock; these, think, arc mis,a-
ken, and will, flhey persist in their course,
and by their oppositlon,at the same time de-
feat the road through this. county forever,and
that, too, 10 their own sorrow. We have
no capitalists in this county, who are able
to to take stock to any considerable extent
and unless the county and the Lancaster
corporation take stock, am apprehensive
that we will be cut oil of this contemplated
improvement, and that forever.
Some of our citizens argue that this rail
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