The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-11-23
TWENTIETH YEAR,

r-.ss$
The Iowa Otissa Of The 10th inst, spsakLna
= sAs hAsaeye artissss sa tho subjsss sf ssase
: aid y Raissass. says:
ut looks upon the movement q dssiened "a
involve ths etats ID dsbt ~ insetetg d which
70 - BE- anss By taxasioa Of the pespss. This ID
aes Q lais view Of she matter. The 0tato ,,ss
had its ald, % . q 20 much sossrds fuesher-
iAg Railrssd satespfsea and at sha ssne time
reoeivs tfo@ the 1oada sasistassery enarsnteea
for the paymsnt Of principal and lnteeeet = ~
whole e1tens Of the liability Incurred. We have
reason TO believe thas the Roads are ready "a
} give such gaanntses. on receiving the proposed
I aid. Weuld the people consent 70 such Stato
aid, u such guarantees are sesursdl We have
20 DOUBT whatever, that they would gladly thus
nasesn iefward the leading Railroad iinsa."
Il 10 very easy to say that thing may b.
dsns but il y always desirable, though it may
not BE- quite 20 easy, to say Aos it may BE- done.
why does not some one tell 10 the specific man.
ner in which State aid 10 to be exsended "a
Railroad companisss If this thing il 70 b
psessed before the people, Why 10 not some tam
gibls project presented for consideration and
! argument!
Now, We undertake to say that thsrs 10 not
railroad manager or anancier in America. NO
matter how sagacious he may bs, who can de-
wise scheme by which loan Of $4,000
mile will b an essential benefit TO any Railroad
company in the State, il that loan must arst be
secured BY frst mortgage ON the esmpanys
road. There 10 not . mile OF railroad in the
State that 10 not already mortgagsd for great
deal more than $4,000. Is il supposed that
second mortgage will bs any security TO the
State! II not, then the first mortgage must be
raised before the company can avail itself of
State aid. How 10 it proposed to take up the
first mortgage for, say $4,000 per mile, and
substitute one for $4,000 per miis-whsrs 10
sbs excess Of the irst mortgage over the mort
gage to the State Of say $1,000 per mile to be
raised! And, again, if this cosld be done, what
advantage would the companies derive from it!
Why would they prefer to pay iatsrsst on the
State bonds in New York to paying it On their
own bonds!
The railroad directors who would put . first
mortgage on their roads for $4,000 per mile,
a. roads are built in this country, must bs down.
right idiots. Such an act by any company in
AVwo wVusN US = SVuRi0eV yetV ~ &C. ~
would put stop TO every road that would do
II. II would place is at once in such position
thatit would be financially impossible to raise
the mensy that would be necessary to complete
mile Of it, In fsrmer article we placed the
average cost of railroads in this State At &22,-
900 mile. The railroad men say We stated too
low . sum. Experience has shswn that sec
ond mortgage On . railroad 10 nearly valueless.
With 6rst mortgage Of $4,000 mile on any
Of the Iowa roads, we ask again. where on earth
10 the remaining $l2 to $4,000 per mile that
will be necessary to complete the roads, coming
from?
This whole scheme 10 fraught with trouble and
disaster to the railroad companies themselves.
The agitation Of the subject can have NO
other effect than to retard their progress
Whilst they are fruitlessly calling on Hercules
for help they are losing the friendship the con-
6dencs and support Of local constituency. In
our eonviction no solvent, honest company
would or could receive dollar of State aid
upon the terms proposed. We know that the
most prudent, sagacious rsilroad men in the
SVuuuy iVoA upVu buU WuVbG SChOU0 10 PGSpOs.
ssrously absurd. They say that in these tines,
to be of The least particle of benefit to the com
panies the State must make provision for the
pay msnt Of the interest on her bonds and not
leave that to be done by the companies, and
everybody knows that this would bankrupt the
State.
One word more. We did not in the article |
referred 10 by the Citizen, Allude 10 the Buriing
ton and Missouri River Railroad Company ~ is
istimated bF that paper. We are in no sense
the organ of that company and have NO right !
to speak for it. We have not heard from any
Of its principal managers since the agitation of
shis subject commenced, and it is of the least
consequence in the world to Us whether We ever
do. We do not know their views, and We do |
not care what they are. We like railroads well |
enough in their way, but We do not like them |
well enough to sacrifice principle, the interests
of the State, or our personal Independence to |
obtain them. We presume the Burlington road
will 60 on, but we are very sure that It never |
will, If its movement is dependent upon our
voice or vote for this project Of State aid.
An Extra Session OF the Legislafure. |
Now that the project Of State Aid to Railroads
is pretty thoroughly used up, a very few persons
are calling upon the Governor to convene the |
General Assembly for the purpose Of enacting |
an appraisement law. Those who are impor- |
tuning the Governor to convene the Legisla-
lature for this purpose, look to the enactment |
Of stay laws as q means Of relief from pscunisry |
embarrassment. They no doubt think the en-
sctment Of such laws required bv the exigepciss
of the times. We do not Without stopping I
to argue the constitutional question ws think
that experience and sound reason are both op. I
posed to this kind Of legislation. While II may |
put OF ard impede the immediate collection Of |
debts, it fs sure to crush the debtor in the end.
Lawyers, sheriifs and constablss, ne can well |
conceive, would be interested in the enactment |
OF stay laws. The amount Of their fees would |
thereby be greatly increased. But for the debt
or class. for che persons intended to be benefit.
ted, experience teaches us that they work dis
aster and ruin.. The delay obtainedis st . ruin.
Gus cost in the way of interest and fees. II 10
even harder aud more killing than that procur
ed At L per cent. Of the money LENDER. Better,
far better to make sacrifices, large sacrifices
81. 81