The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-06-08
CITY OF DUBUQUE, IOWA. JUNE 8, 1858
REPLY TO MIR. O'HALLORAN

REPLY TO MIR. OHALLORAN.
Mr.. EDiroK With an honorable frankness
not often seen, Mr.. Il. J. O'Halloran informet
the writer, of communication concerning th,
. Dubuque and Pacific Rail Road which h,
intended shC uld be published in your paper, ane
in handing me copy, affords an opportunity t,
S reply 10 the propositions there advanced.
: With thanks for his courtesy, would brief,
glance at his positions:
: Tax Payers of Dubuque county, Mr.. O'Hal
loran allows that the construction of this roac
would be of &C the greatest possible advantage
to the city of Dubuque" lie further object.
not TO the issue of the Bonds of the County and
; City, but thinks that they might be used in
another manner. He objects not to the tax fol
the interest of the Bonds, and even recommends
that 'he Bonds be applied in the construction OF
Plank, or Mc.2dami-ed Roads, Bridges, &c. &c
He objects to the application cf Them to the
building Of Rail Road for The following
reasons That the accommodation would not
be equal, and therefore that the tax would be
borne unequal ly-both as regards the City and
County, and the various parts of the county
Also, that there would be no chance for profits,
and that the County would be looser by the
operation.
The above embrace, believe, all his PROPOSE
tons. desire to show you, that while the
plan as 1t IS now before you, will enrich you, the
one that MIR. O'Halloran recommends to you
would result, to say the least, most unfortunate.
ly for your best interests.
In allowing that the City of Dubuque would
be benefited, he at once admits the certainty of
Its advancement in population, wealth, and
! trade-and as a necessary consequence, allows
that it will become a better market-and as ii
grows, it will need larger supply, to keep pace
with the demand. Now, this is all the farmer
needs, all he ought TO desire. Messrs Tax
Payers, please remember that am writing in
plain, practical sort of way, ard wish to use no
fourishes. l ask you simply, to think of everv
word say. Now, next to good market, you
want cheap lc0y to get to that market-and
the cheaper that way is, the greater the profits
on your crops, your beef, and your pork and
the greater profits you make, the more valuable
your farm becomes. Is this true' Mr. OH.
thinks that your land would be more valuable,
but fears that one farmers land may be more
valuable than another Sand like the ss dog in /
the manger," Gf he will allow Inc the illus,ra.
tion) because one can't eat much as another,
he would let them have no meat at aU Oh
Citizens of this County and City shall sec. |
tional jealousy and selhshness forercr prevent
the accomplishment of those improvements,
which are to sare what advantages we've got,
and obtain many more? But there are two con. !
siderations which at once annihttate all ideas of
inequality Of taxation. | would ask your com.
mon sense, if land near Dubuque, and near the
line of the road does become more valuable,
will it not be taxed higher: And if land at
distance does not become so valuable, VII not
the taxes be less also Surely, this is enough
but no, | go farther, TO ask if it is not of the
most vital importance for you, in every part of
the county, to have Rail Road, if it benefits
Dubuque City Do you ask, why Simply
because towns below 'oiH have the Railroad,
if we do not, and they will become the best
markets. Now, suppose any of you should not
be ON the line of the Road, and should continue
| 10 haul your produce over the present road, or
miles, is it not better to do this than to haul it
| 40 or so miles to Sabula, or Lyons' And is il
not better for you TO have even the increased
value Of your land that MIR. O. Ii. allows than
to have none at all
He says you would have no chance for profits
For your bonds you tay 900 of the Stock
of the Roads. Dubuque city raises $500, ,0G0I
in cash aud Bonds, besides paying for abou,
half Of yours. This you omn-you are propri
stors-and have 2-oths Of the control and ,oner
mip OF the Road. You don't gire your bonds
!ou sell them and get hack property which will
probably be worth 80 per cent more than the
Bonds you pay for it. And the road too, it is
expected, will pay your interest and more loo in
'short time. Of its profits you have free
nd perfect share Can anything be palmer than
tis Is this stalking money from your pock-
as: Assuredly not. But what does Mr.. OH
Fopose? Why, for you to spend the entire
AMOUNT on plank and Macadamized roads, with-
ot ever getting any thing back at all-and then
b obliged to foot the bill for 10000 year
aly ,cay, with no possible prospect of any relief
tr taoenty ycars-and the work to be done all
over at the end of every five years, besides
Fuse and consider well, for, he says, il is of
tk "gravest Importance"
No! Messrs. Tax Payers Nature has made
foiyou good roads for ordinary purposes, as
ON could desire. With few hills cut down
a few streams and sIoughs bridged, and you can
notdesire better common roads. And the build
ing of the Dubuque and Pacific Rail Road, will
make you rich enough to do this soon, without
anytrouble.
Bat again MIR. OH. thinks some invisible
being-some unknown spirit, will come down
and build you Rail Road without asking your
assistance. He imagines the Illinois Central
viii, who have written to persons here, that they
had as much as they could do, to get opposite to
us-and l think too. But the Southern
Wisconsin perhaps will When oh, some
time or other-Ah, my fellow Tax Payers they
came here the other day, and said they had been
working for year, and with Dubuque's help,
they had enough to build 12 or I3 miles
II hope we shall be county with 40 or SO, 900
people. before they get here-and we can't af-
ford to wait 10 or IL years just now.
Mr.. o II. thinks that the counties of Ohio,
refered TO as precedents are not just, inasmuch
as Dubuque county and the adjoining are a
maralne counties. l would only ask if all the
Northern counties, particularly the one in which
Cleveland is situated, are not also "maratine
coundes to a certainly greater extent than
thoseof Iowa.
My object here, brother Tax Payers, is not to
speak OF all the advantages that would accrue
to you, from the construction and running of the
road Il merely wish to reply to some of Mr..
Obs. views. He is so honest i'll the utterance
that one regrets they were not on the right side,
and as he says he's willing to be convinced, |
trust he will be at the polls on Monday mex, and
there evnce his public spri, and individual enter.
prise. Should these lines meet the eyes Of any
still ignorant of the manner in which the peo-
pie propose to construct the road, he will be
fully informed at the Grand Mass Meeting to be
held in this city on Saturday next at PIP. M.
As facts and reasons speak for themselves
shall be excused for some haste in presenting
them. FS. JESUP.