The Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1846-1852, 1851-04-03
IcomMUNlcATED.l
The RailrOOd---Facts for Think
ing Men.

ing Men.
Prepared By The Railroad Committee.
A few days will bring, to the people of
his county, the duty and responsibility of
deciding a question, which, IN its bearings,
is intimately interviewer with all their in
We will then decide FOR, or A.
a Railroad. The statement of the
declares its Importance, and is
enough TO engage the deepest attention.
The utility and benefit of Railroads have
been sufficiently seen and realized, in other
sections of our country, to fix and establish
their great value, and to relieve us from ar
gument on that topic.
The great importance OF the Railroad, and
the vast benefits it will confer upon the peo-
pie of the whole county, are admitted by all.
But some are in doubt as to the consequent
ces which the subscription, by the county,
may entail upon US. Questions are asked,
in honest sincerity, by some, How will the
prime pal amount Of the subscription be paid!
How long will the people, probably, be tax
ed to nav the interest! And how much will
be imposed on each taxpayer; or, in other
words, how much will the taxes be ~increas-
ed a! These questions are put, by others,
with a view 10 embarrass and confuse the
Judgment Of voters.
The answers to the two first questions de-
pend upon the character Of the improve
ment, 10 the construction of which the sub
scription is 10 be devoted. If a good and
productive work, capable of sustaining itself,
and yielding o nett profit equal to the inter-
est, which will have to be paid on the bonds,
the completion of the road will relieve us
from the payment of the interest, and its
productivencss will make the stock par, and
saleable, without discount or loss.
Suppose, then, that it will take about two
years TO complete the road.--all that will be
required Of the county, in that case, if the
roud be productive, will be to make provis-
ion for the payment of the interest for that
period for, after that, the dividends on the
county's stock will pay the interest on her
debt; or the sale of the stock will pay the
bonds,-the county having the option, of
course, to keep or sell her stocks
The next question relates to the effect up
on the taxpayer, and asks how much he
will have to pay We desire to give it Il
true and satisfactory answer, so that each
citizen may know the full extent Of the La
bility the subscription will impose upon him.
TIE highest amount authorized by law to
be subscribed by the county, is $3.50 ,OOO.-
The interest upon that sum, at 7 per cent,
will be SIT 800. The valuation Of the tax
able property on the Duplicate of this coun-
ty, for the last year, was $7,442,964 An
assessment of two and one-half mills on the
dollar Of that valuation would produce SlS,-
607,--a sum, larger, by $l,lO7, than that
which will be required TO pay the interest
for any one year. But, leaving the assess
ment at p mills, the taxpayer owning pro-
pcrty valued at 81 900, will pay lax of two
dollars and n half. He, whose property is
valued at $4,000. will pay five dollOrs,-the
tax, in all cases, being in the ratio of two
dollars and fifty cents on each thousand dol
lars of valuation.
But the whole amount of the bonds will
not be issued the first year. The issue, for
that year, will not exceed, probably, one
hundred thousand dollars,--the interest on
which will be $1,000; being one mill on the
dollar, aud only one dollar on the thousand
of the valuation on the tax duplicate.
The financial condition of our county is
worthy Of consideration, in this connection,
and ought not to be overlooked. The debt
OF the county, on account of the Surplus Re-
venue, is, in effect, extinguished; and, in
deed, the county mny be said, with truth, to
be free Of debt. Large assessments for
county purposes, recently made, will have
accomplished their objects, and VI will be
relieved from their burthen; so that, after
the present year, the taxes, with the addition
of the Railroad tax, will not be higher than
we have been accustomed to pay.
We have supposed, and the foregoing
views and deductions assume, that the road
will be profitable, in the way of dividends.
The supposItiou is warranted by results in
localities not more favorable for a road, than
ours. Doubt, however, may exist, in the
minds OF some,-not at all unreasonable,
here, where little il known, from actual ex-
pcrlcncc, as to the use and productiveness of
Railroads. We wish to meet such doubt
fairly; aud, with facts, to remove 1t. To this
end, tho accompanying table is compiled. 1t
relates to Railroads in New York. State.
mcnts are required, by law, from all tho Rail
Roads in TINT tate,-eXhlbiting their bust
ness operations, and financial condition.
From such statements the accompanying Ia
BILE is compiled.
The table presents many interesting facts;
but the main object, contemplated in lis con
p%llation, was to show the nett per centago
realized upon the entire cost of the roads,
stock and all. 1t shows that the average per
centage of the fourteen roads, embraced in
ii, has been only u small fraction less than
Ten dollars on one hundred dollars of cost and
expense; aud eight Of those roads-the most
expensive-cost SOL 600 per mile. Our
road will not cost more than one-third as
much, per mile, as the average cost of the
roads in question; aud il will traverse n great
section Of the State, eXcelled, in productive
ness, by no portion of the country. With
these comparative elements Ct proiit--cheap-
ness Of construction, aud rich and abundant
cxportable production, aud aided, as it will
be, by a large interior trade, the road can
not fail to be profitable,
How, then, can the county lose anything,
by making the subscription Loss is i'm
-
'See column next to the right hand column, for
prices At which Stocks recently sold, of Nos. |, I,
10, IL aud II, OF the Roads contained IN the table.
Eyniuht NOR tyrH - -r-p .Stn