The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1855-08-08
[ II.
Present Condition and Future Pros
poets Of the Work.

| Present CO1ldIt1O1t ana Future HT0S-
poets Of the Work;
In judging of the condition and pros
poets of the work, we should look not
only at the question of what has been
done in given time, but at the c:rcum-
stances under which it has been accom-
plished. Relying upon the Importance
of the work, and the favor with which it
was believed the enterprise would be
viewed by capitalists, it was undertaken
without cash capital sufficient to cover
the cost of the Road, and with the de-
termination not to throw the stock or
bonds into market, until the credit of
the Company, from the advanced state
of its work, should ensure them par
value. It was the settled policy to grade
the Road, and secure the right of way
by local subscriptions along the line,
which would ensure its stock and bonds
favorable consideration in the market.
Good policy, perhaps; would have
required the whole energies of the Board
to be directed to the completion ofs some
part of the Road which would form i'm
portant connections with other Roads,
so that it might be yielding an income
while the remainder was in course of
construction but it was impossible to
act on such policy, as most of the sub
scriptions were conditioned that the
amount subscribed should be expended
in the county subscribing it. Clogged
by this condition, no alternative was left
the Board but to distribute the work
along the whole line, to be paid in the
local subscriptions, or resort to ruinous
sale of the bonds of the Company by
which to raise funds to complete some
portion of the work. The policy of sell
ling bonds or loaning money before the
credit of the Company was firmly estab-
lished, the Board believed would be
ruinous in any state of the money mar
ket, but more especially during the mon
etary crisis of the past year. They,
therefore, concluded to limit the amount.
of work to the receipts on local subscrip-
tions, and not to put bonds OF stock in
market, until favorable change should
take place in the pecuuiary affairs of the
country.
Acting on this resolution, the work
commenced on the 4th of July, 1858,
and has been scatterered along the
whole line, on which much has been done,
but on so extended scale, that it affords
in no one locality visible evidence of
the amount accomplished. The right
of way has been secured for l60 miles,
and the work on the whole line is equal
to from seventy-fye to eighty miles near
Iy completed for the rail. This has
been accomplished by local subscrip-
tions including $lIs,Oo0 paid by the
contractor, Doolittle, and applied on his
subscription No sale of stock or bonds
has been made, nor have debts been
contracted of any considerable amount,
but the whole is the unineumbered prop
erty of the stockholders.
When it is considered that this has
been done by the voluntary subscriptions
of persons along the line, aided by the
subscription of the co ntractor, whose
confidence in the work is evidenced by
the payment Of his proportion, and his
readiness to pay the balance as soon as
the Company can pay pro rata, it af-
fords the best guarantee of the future
progress of the work. 1t is confidently
believed that an easy condition of the
money market, which, from the present
appearance of the crops, we may autici-
pate, will enable the Board to prepare
double the amount of work during the
coming year that has been done up
to the present time, and with less pc
cuniary inconvenience to the stockhold-
ers. If so, the work of grading will be
accomplished, the masonry done, and the
credit of the Company will ensure the
sale of its bonds or stock at par value
for the purchase of the Iron. We be-
lieve we can then challenge the State
to show Road like this, graded md
prepared for the rail, without the. en-
cumbrance Of debt or the sale of a
bond.
".
Finances.
It will be seen by the report of the