The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1853-09-01
M Fer the Gasett,
RAILROAD SUBSCRIPTIONS.
Mr.. EDITOR

q very well written article upon the sup)ect
Of County Subscriptions TO Railroads, ana
the writer. Mr.. George Long, treats the (
subject very fairly and any reply to the
communication, should be written in the
same spirit Of fairness.
Il is useless now to undertake review Of
the late decision Of the Supreme Court OF
this State upon that subject So far as the
question Of legality is concerned the Supreme
Court has decided that counties my vote to
take stock in Railroad Companies, and hav-
ing 80 decided it is now the supreme law of
the State, and may add, in accordance
with the wishes Of two-thirds of the people
i in this State.
j Your correspondent asks "a little excited
ssWhat is the end Of this debt creating policy
/ to bel" .Will not ruin and taxation be
the certain RESULT" Am unnecessarily
alarmcd.', &c, &c. Citizen Long certainly
does not mean to compare proposition
for the county to take stock in Railroad,
to the internal improvement indebtedness OF
Pennsylvania and Illinois, take it; il he
does shall have to write him down among
the list of 'sOd Fogies" or take the more
| charitable course and believe that it is n
Laurel plucked from anothers brow. have
not the honor of a personal acquaintance
I with Mr. Long, but am aware that he re-
sides near one who has been Ndrsaautng
some crude ideas for home consumption,
the particular effect Of which is intended to
operate upon the vote of this county on the
18th inst.
Now there is no proposition before the
people of this State, or county, to undertake
any system OF internal Improvement, it is
merely to lend the credit of the county to
Railroad companies to construct Railroads
within the boundaries of our county. For
this purpose the county subseribes stock to
, the Roads, issues her bonds to borrow mon
ey to pay for the stock, when the bonds are
, sold the county commences paying interest
, on them, the money is Immediately paid
over to the Railroad company, who allow
I the same rate of interest on the money
that the county pays on the bonds, SO that
the interest account is even until the road
is finished and turned over to the company.
When the Road is completed and in work
ing order the holder OF the bonds is author
lied by its terms to give up the bonds to be
cancelled and take therefor the stock in the
Rood belonging to the county, and the in
terest scrip is also convertible into stock
on the completion of the road. On the
suppositon that the bonds are thus convert
ed, any one can see with half an eye that
the county has lost nothing in the opera
ton.
Again, if the bonds are not SO converted,
the county will be entitled to dividend Of
the profits of the Road " hich will more than
pay the interest on the bonds; we say more
than enough, because no Railroad has yet
been in operation in the west that has not
paid more than Is per cent. on the cost
1t is the enormous dividends of our west
ern Roads that induce the holders of
western bonds to convert them into stock
at the earliest moment. For instance the
!. Rock Island and Chicago Road, now in
operation only a little over one half OF
the distance, is paying over 80 per cent
to the contractors on the entire expendi-
lures. The Road will be completed to
Rock Island by the LIST Of Feb. next, and
It is within the writer's knowledge that the
holders Of the bonds of the city of Davcn-
port intend 70 convert their bonds into stock
in that Road the moment it is tinish.s,, an /
turned over to the company.
In answer to Mr.. Longs question, "what
is the end of this debt creating policy!"
nigh, we'll answer, the ssend is not YETI
but the beginning of our Railroad policy has
an argument so strong, so unanswerable
, that the citizens of Scott county will think
twice before following the beck of those
who would destroy the foundation of our
prosperity, and check our onward march to
greatness. What are the facts! Within
the last two years, and since the Rock Is
land Railroad was put. under contract, the
population of Scott county has doubled; the
assessed value of taxable property has
doubled, the taxes have been reduced from
I lla per cent. to little over q per cent. on
the dollar. Your county has paid interest
on $25 900 stock in the Rock Island Road
for which she now holds interest scrip for
the same amount, worth its face to day
The county is out of debt and has money
in her Treasury. Farms in this county that
were offered two years ago for $500 and
$1,000 are held and selling now at $4,000
and $4,000, and yet our friend Long saws he
is no alarmist What but Railroads and
Railroad projects produced this state OF
things!
For the purpose Of making up the balance
of stock in the Railroad west from here, and
aiding in making up the stock in the lie
Claire and Davenport Railroad, it is propos-
ed that Scott county take $4,000 of the
stock in each Of these Roads and issue bonds
on which to raise the money to pay for the
stock. Now this stock is payable in Install
ments not to exceed 5 per cent. per month,
consequently it will not be necessary to
4 coll tho hn,ds nd Z