Glasgow weekly times. (Glasgow, Mo.) 1848-1861, 1852-12-30
North Missouri Railroad.

rial 10 Congress in behalf Of the North Mis-
souri, Railroad, contains the following sketch
of the country it will pass through, as TO
soil, population, wealth, &c:
Following the route indicated by the Sc
venth section of the act of incorporation, the
line of this road seems to pass through or
touch the following counties, in the follow
ing order; NM. ,.t7
st. Louis, St. Charles, Warren, Mont
gomery, Galloway, Audrain Boone, Ran
dolph, Macon, Adair, Schuyler.
Eleven counties, with population Of
1Sl ,829 (by the census of 1867
Let it be remarked in passing, that the
aggregate population of these counties has
increased almost one hundred per cent. in
ten years. Five of these counties lie in the
interior, entirely removed from the Missou-
ri river and from all access TO market by
that river-precarious as it is. The larger
body of the valuable agricultural land ly-
ing in four of the remaining counties is so
far removed from the river that margins
them, that as access TO market it is practi-
cally Of little value. 1t is unnecessary for
your Committee to review in detail the re-
sources of each county lying along the pro-
posed line; such old, wealthy, and densely
settled counties as Boone, Galloway, st
Charles and Montgomery, need no eulo-
GUM, and if it were possible TO discuss
their claims upon your attention, volume
rather than report would be needed
They contain an abundance of fine lands,
producing heavy and valuable crops of to-
bacco, hemp, corn and other cereals. They
abound in excellent grazing pastures,
wherein they breed horses, mules, cattle
and sheep. Nor are they lacking in miner
al wealth and timber, traces of coal, iron,
salt and lead having been found in various
portions of this range of old and opulent, as
well as youthful and undeveloped counties.
In short, in every essential prerequisite for
high state Of afiluence and power, they
are amply provided, says one-a safe, easy,
and at all times available access to a cash
market, with which they are blessed, are as
valueless as most of the superabundant min
eral wealth of our State, lying powerless
and worthless in the bowels of the earth, be-
meath its superintendent mass of mountain
and plain. The lands that lie on the divide
between the tributaries of the Missouri and
the Mississippi in the newer and more
northern counties are almost without ex.
ception rich prairie that requires but little
grading or excavation, and in this section OIL
the route the superstructure might almost
lie upon a road-bed of open prairie.
Your Committee feel assured that nc
eleven counties in our State can be found ir
one continuous line that possesses more rich
agricultural lands, more industrious ant
enterprising population, better facilities fol
the development and acquisition of great
wealth, and at the same time fewer advan-
tages in the way of cheap and easy access
at all seasons, to market, than the coun-
ties that lie along this proposed line. Here
then there are eleven counties containing q
population of 19l ,S29 persons, DESTROYS oil
building railroad to develop the resour-
ces Of their respective counties, and they
ask therefore your assistance. Will it be
given?
Estimating the distance from St. Louisstc
the northern boundary of the State, roughly
by the diagonal of the sections at 228 miles
and suppose the cost of each mile of the
road full stocked with one freight and pas.
senger train each day, at $4,000, (some.
thing under the Ohio and Mississippi esti.
mate,) its entire cost would be 81 100000
Now what are the resources ofthese coun.
ties, and wherein lies their power 10 build
and support this road ?
They can be readily seen from the annex.
ed table prepared with some degree of care
from correspondence with the County
Clerks of the various counties designated
A portion of this table is made up from cal.
culation based upon the returns contained
in the last Auditors report
Acres of land in the eleven counties
1888, 100; acres of land taxed, l,924,027
difference, 1909, o93; value Of taxed land
13,26l 1873; value of town lots, 28,793,
ITO; No. of slaves, l7,423; value of slaves
4,O53, 1857; value of personal property, s,
OBJ ,O5l; money and bonds; 1914, 1856; to
tai taxable property, 52,744,o46; popula
ton in 1850, 1Sl 1923; population in 1910
93O2l.
The ST, Charles Convention rejecting tn
will of the people of these counties, recon
mend the plan of "paying county and cor
poration railroad subscriptions by the lev,
of an annual tax, sufficient to meet the call