The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1859-08-19

would benefit not only the citizens and
property holders of the two places, but al
so the country between; and the people
west of Menasha in the vallies of the Fox
and Wolf Rivers, are deeply interested in
the completion of this wolk.
But We have now only to do with the
people of Manitowoc village, who more
than all others require the building of this
Road, AID will derive the greatest benefit
therefrom; and they must take the initia-
tive in furnishing the means to complete
the work. Now. what kind of payment
will any contractor require for the building
of this Road, in addition to the Mortgage
Bonds of the Company? Either Cash, or
Corporation Bonds. If the first, it must
be raised through the efforts of few indi-
viduals, for the many will, as usual, stand
back; and, while contributing nothing
themselves, will unjustly discuss and crti-
else the motives of those who are sacrif-
cling their private resources to further an
enterprise, the benefit of which is to be
shared by the whole community. But in
this case, the amount of cash that would be
required to complete the Road to Menasha,
If Village Bonds are not used-is beyond
the individual resources of our citizens, and
cash payments towards the building of the
Road are entirely out of the question.
This state of things, then, reduces us to
Village Bonds as the only available re-
source in the possession of our citizens
with which to aid the Company in the con-
struction of the Road. And now shall we
use these Bonds for this purpose; and if
so, what guarantees should the village re-
quire as a condition upon which they are
to be issued Undoubtedly, it would be
the duty of the village authorities, before
issuing and paying out our corporation
bonds, to demand and receive assurance
and security, that these bonds should not
be used or expended without the certain
completion Of the Road to Menasha. Up,
on this point there is, and can be, no diff
ference of opinion. Such guarantee the
contract of P. Latimer does not seem to
give; but the point at issue, and the one
upon which the gravest difference exists in
the minds of our citizens, is, whether the
village should give their corporate credit to
the aid Of this work, or simply lend it
whether the village will issue the bonds for
the benefit of the Company, and, looking
the matter boldly in the face, assume the
Of meeting the payment Of
the principal when due, and the interest
annually until then or whether we shall
demand from the company assurance or
security that they-the company-will
meet these responsibilities.
And now, before deciding upon this last
point, let us consider who the members of
this r. r. Co. are, and what relative posi-
ton they occupy with regard to the citizens
of our village, and the enterprise under
their care. From the daily remarks which
some of our citizens are constantly throw
ing out in the streets, and elsewhere, a
stranger unacIuainted with the circumstan-
ces would be led to infer that the Manito-
voc Il Mississippi R. R. Co. was a corpo-
ration composed of individuals who had no
interest in common with Manitowoc, but a
set Of dangerous men who spent their time
Matching and contriying some scheme
whereby to become possessed of the bonds
of this village, for the purpose of applying
the same to their own private use, and
thereby robbing the village; and this idea
is the only one to be derived from the Tri-
bune article above alluded to. Now, so
far from this being the case, the gentlemen
who comprise the Railroad Company are
like the rest Of this community, citizens
and property holders of Manitowoc, inter
ested in the completion of the Road in the
same manner that we all are-except to
greater extent than the most of us, because
they own larger amount of property
here. They have taken hold of this enter
prise, and have already invested over one
hundred thousand dollars therein-not be-
cause they believed that the stock would
pay, but because through the building of
this Road the business of the village would
be so largely increased as to bring great
accession to our population, and a rise in
the value of real estate would be the con-
sequence.
This increase of business, this accession
of population, this rise in the value of
property would benefit almost every citi
zen of Manitowoc, in the same manner, if
not to the same extent, that it benefits the
gentlemen who comprise the r. r. Co.
who have already exhausted their individu-
al available means to forward this work of
public benefit. Why then should the Vii
lage demand of the members of this com
pany, that they--the few-should pay the
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