Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1858-03-13
Extension Of tho Railroad to Was h I.
iMUfOM.

Washington county upon the Railroad sub
! seription 70 the Nj. &. N. Road draws near,
We desire to remind them and our own citi-
.cns of The great Importance to us all Of its
success, thus enabling the company to finish
theroad to Washington at an early day. We
here in Muscatine have very deep interest
in the result of this vote almost as great as
our Washington friends, for without it car
ries, our long cherished hope of u railroad
connection with them is at an end for the
present. We arc informed upon the best of
authority that without this assistance on the
part Of Washington county, the road cannot
DC ba'E; that the contractors have exhausted
all Of their resources 10 doing what they
have done, and owe debts which they must
pay for work done for them on tho line.
They have got all the aid from Muscatine
county which they can get or have II right to
expect, and to Washington county they now,
as they think, very reasonably look for aid
to this extent The question now is, will
Washington come up and do her share, or
will she vote down the loan, and thus say,
we should like road, but we don't want it
enough to do anything for it? We think
rot. We think the citizens there understand
their position and interest too well to let this
fail I; but wo must urge upon them the i'm
portance Of working for its success. We
hope it will carry by handsome majority.
"The gods help those who help themselves"
Put your shoulder to the wheel by carrying
this loan, and our Hercules-Henry Farnam
will put the road through in a short time.
If the county of Washington should give
outright the amount asked for to secure a
road she could not otherwise have, she would
make by the operation, but no such thing is
asked. They are asked to take stock in the
, road, giving therefor their bonds at par. The
county will have to pay the interest upon the
bonds, and will receive upon the stock the
regular dividend Of the road when declared.
! The company has paid fourper cent. dividend
upon the first division of the road already,
and why should not the NJ. Il NJ. Road in a
few years be as good stock as the Chicago
and Rock Island? The stock of that road is
now worth nearly 90 cts, and has been worth
l.o5. 1t was built by the same parties who
are interested in this road, and its stockhold-
ers are many Of them large holders in the
NJ. & NJ. We look upon the NJ. & NJ. as one
Of the best projects in Iowa Our Washing
ton friends have deep interest in having
this road keep pace with the Burlington and
Missouri Road south of them, and if, as we
have reason to believe, the Desmoines Im>
provement lands are large part Of them to
be diverted to the Railroad from Keokuk to
Desmoines, it will at once secure the road
via Oskaloosa, thus putting this line in con-
nection at Oskaloosa with the capital of the
State and keokuk.
We desire to assure our Washington friends
that this is a matter of great moment to
/ them and to US With this road secured to
! Washington, it will be pushed through to
/ Oskaloosa, where the Keokuk road to Des-
! IN Dimes will connect. Oar road will then
take a southerly direction to the Missouri
river, and Washington will have all the Rail =.
road facilities she could risk or hope for with
the West and Northwest, and an eastern
outlet ria Muscatine, and southern one
ria Columbus City and Mt. Pleasant, all Of
,rI.ieh is not far of.
If this is suffered to pass from your grasp
the chance for it may never again offe. upon
as fair and easy terms, and you may live to
repent Of your neglect, without Railroad,
tor many years. With railroad to Wash
ington this summer, it will bring you al. i'm
migration worth to your county in single
year its cost. 1t will give an impetus to
business of all kinds, and add largely to the
value of your products, advancing the value
of real estate of all kinds, and adding to
your growth more in one year than the for
mer fiv'.
We hope our Washington friends will ex-
cuse us for saying as much as We have, but
we mean to say more, for Muscatine is look
ing with longing eye to an alliance with
you. Our interests are Identical with yours,
and we have talked long enough about the
road and want te ride on the rail with You.
What do you say7 Let US hear from you on
tie 9th of April-~t'sat Washington votes
yes.
We understand that it has been reported
, that Mr.. Farnam would not accept of the
loan in Washington county, in consequence
of some conditions in the proclamation. We
are authorized t. contradict this report and
assure the people there that it voted it will
be accepted and carried out as promi ed.
Too LATE WITH HIS OFFERING.-Mr. Cor