The weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1858-1860, 1858-11-09

~ Du1G1n0roH, IOWA.
aNY -
Tuesday :. =. NsvsnA1sr .. 1855.
Eag RailrsaAs Ana ssase Dsns. M.
We nov fal1l eur premise 81 ressv tho
consideration ef ths sabjsss IT STATE indebted.
-asDh sid Of Railroad conssrseeisa. .sa
= II ~ briefly refer 70 The history Of other
0lates n eonneetion With works Of internal i'm.
psovensae . ea 3
We % mes dsay The power Of State govern
nsae vbsrs there 10 no express constitutional
psoAioitioa, - engage In works Of internal i'm.
psevensnt but We affirm that, a. general
rule, it 70 sxcesdingly insxpsdisnt to do So
There has been, and there may b again, ex-
sspsissal cases whore An enlightened public
policy nay rsquirs State 70 depart from . wise
general principle. Such case vas TIA. Of the
1sis Canal in New York. That great work was
undertaken 1t An early day when there was bus
little surplus capital in the eeuntry, and that
Little could not b ceaeentratsd on one object.
1t was pioneer work intended not only to
furnish the means Of transit between different
parts Of the STATE, but Alss ~ drain and thus
sender habitabls . vast scope of country then
covered BY wilderness and BY swamps. The
arguments that we're then urged in favor Of the
btate undertaking the construction Of that canal
sssld never have bssa urged in favor Of the
osass building . railroad. The wisdom Of the
pelisy Of the State Of New York in that in
stance u admitted BY all. not because any body
believes il 70 b. COED thing Of itself for
State % embark in schemes Of internal i'm.
psevsDsnt. but on account Of the necessities Ct
the case. But We want no better evidence to
show that this 10 truly an exceptional case than
the history Of all the other canals in the State |
Of New York, which are lateral to the Erie, and |
which have always been burden upon the State
trsssury. IL addition to this evidence, We have
the history Of the canal policy and the results
OF that policy in Pennsylvania, Ohio and lndi-
ana The heavy indebtedness of each Of these
States arose from building canals. These canals
have been Of no essential benefit to either of
the States named, but the Indebtedness heapsd
upon them BY their construction, has oppressed
their citissns with taxation and fixed upon
Pennsylvania and Indiana the stigma of repu-
dia,ion.
10 thoas, therefore, who are everlastingly re.
fsrEing us TO the Erie Canal to show what that
great work has done for New York, and de.
ducing therefrsm an argument in favor of this
State assuming an almost unlimited amount OF
indsbtsdnsss for the construction of railroads,
We answer
lot. That there is no analogy whatever be-
tween q railroad and canal.
I'd. That the Erie is the only canal in the
whole country including all those in Massachu.
sets, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Is
land, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and In
diana, that has net proved failure, and 10,
therefore, an exception to oil general rules.
3d. The returns Of the Erie canal itself show
shat it would at no time have been self-sup-
porting even with its many branches as feeders,
bus for the through traffic poured into it from
States bordering upon aud ives. Of the great
cham OF Lakes. Instead Of building channel
OF trahdc that shall command the entire trade
Of halfa dozen States that are empires of them
selves, tits here proposed to build no less than
six railroads across the State OF Iewa which can
command only the traffic of Nebraska State
which will not contain one hundred thousand
inhabitaats in the next twenty years
We think all must agree with 10 that there ;
|" NO kind Of similarity either geographical, po-
he'ea', sociol or otherwise between the Erie
Canal and any, or all of the various projected
roads in this State.
We assert that no State has ever undertaken
TO build railroads whom shat undertaking has.not r
operated disastrously to the State, aud that no
railroad has ever had any connection with the
State which has not proved injurious just so long e
20 the connection lasted. Such was the case with b
every railroad undertaken by Illinois, Miss,- u
sssippi aud Alabama. Such was the case in :
Indiana with the indianapolis and Madison road, 81
90 also was 1t in Michigan with both the Cen n
tral and Southern roads. But 20 soon rs these o
roads passed into the hands Of private compa al
MES, they were pushed to speedy completion b.
and became, in some measure, beneficial to the
country. In each instance, however, the State "
was hrst saddlsd With heavy indebtedness that h,
has not YET been lquidated. ~
But it said, that it is OF proposed that the :,
state shall undertake the construction of any
road, Or become . stakeholder in any, but sim
ply that the credit OF the State shall be lent to
the Companies in the shape OF bonds We SO ne
understand the proposition. Is there any ad- til
vantage in this indirect method of constructing th
railroads by State aid over the direct and old th
fashioned way? We think not. In the one on
case the State employs aud discharges its own CO
agents, controls the expenditure of its own
money aud locates its own routes In the other DC
Ease the money 10 placed in the hands of Com en-
'any Agents who in no degree responsible
the state and the State has no power to pro.
en' the roads being located as rivals and oper-
ted 90 as to be mutually destructive. Will the W.
interests OF the State be promoted by any such So
esuit! and IL not such result likely to follow "'
0 1t wise to place ten millions of dollars in the Gu
ands OF rival Railroad Companies without any Wv
uard, without any check, without any control sse
yer them, and at least run the risk OF its being ni1
Filtered away in foolish competition for bu- sa'
mess? JET
Again, public policy will net justify the wan :.
On destruction or deterioration Of private pro- +.
srty. Railroads established by State would va,
located SO ~ to increase existing values 49,
lshsr than to diminish them. Instead of At. w
'npsing to build up villages a. rivals to those ao
READY sxisting-instead of attempting to "
reate new centres of trade At the expense of -"
q ones' and in reality thus destroying Is great
Hue belonging to one set of citizens in one
ace ~ is created in another for the benefit OF
70 COMPANY or some OF its members, the State
ould, by ito action enlarge the towns and vii. 49,
ges aiready existing, a ID thus enhance their
iue and the aggregate valuation Of the State.
81 net this point be passed over too lightly. J,
10 Railroad Companies possess fearful con
81 over TN. ;,,.,.s,. - -. WV thar
We no eompunetion in exercising it, The ~.
fy companies now most clamorous for State '"''
J. recipients IS they were of munitcent
Ans OF land from the State, have attempted to =