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

JONES & LEUPs must pay their full share
of such tax, in proportion to the amount
of their property to be benefited by the
building of the road.
If then the Village Bonds are to be is
sued to aid this work and without the aid
of the bonds the Rail Road cannot be built,
let them be issued in a liberal public spirit,
and let all the property holders of the Viii
lage stand ready to meet their respective
share of the public responsibility, incurred
for the public benefit. Let US not be guilty
of the iliberality and narrow minded self
ishness, of asking few members of our
community to assume responsibility that
properly belongs to all: but if we desire
public benefit, resolved that the public
shall pay for it. As an argument against
the insuring of the Village Bonds in aid
of our K. r.; we are referred to the exam
pie of some of our sister towns on the Lake
Shore that have exhausted their credit by
the issue of large amount of corporate
Bonds to aid Rail Roads, and are now suf-
fering from the oppressive taxes imposed
upon property to meet the interest on their
public Indebtedness.
This argument is good against any reck-
less issue of our Bonds, without proper
guarantees that the work will be compile
ted, but is not good against the issue of
limited amount of bonds for proper OBJ
ject, with such sufficient guarantees. Mil
waukee owes her present proud position
as the commercial emporium of Wisconsin,
to her Railroads, which are now pouring
into that city trade second to no other
city of the same population in the world.
And how were the means obtained to build
those Roads, to a very great extent by
the liberal aid extended by the City of
Milwaukee to the various Companies hav-
ing charge of the construction of Railroads
connecting that city with the INTERIOR
Without the public aid given at an early
day, those enterprises must have languish-
ed, or have fallen through altogether, and
a large amount of the trade now monopo-
Used by Milwaukee would have been divert
ed to other points. The city of Milwau-
kee demanded, and received in every in
stance, secured assurance that the Railroad
companies would pay the annual interest
of the bonds issued to aid their respective
Roads, and the principal of the bonds at
maturity; and upon those assurances the
bonds were issued to very large amount
and somewhat recklessly, and for the last
two years, the Railroad companies have
failed to pay the interest on the city Bonds,
and there has been some excitement on the
subject. But ask any intelligent property
c-ner or business man of Milwaukee to-
day, if he regrets the issue of city bonds
to aid the building of Railroads, and he
will point to the sixty thousand inhabitants
of that city, and tell you that but for the
building of Railroads, that sixty thousand
would not have been more than ten thou
sand; and but for the issuing Of city bonds
there would have been no Railroads lead
ing out of Milwaukee; and he will assure
you that the Railroad Indebtedness of Mil
waukee does not Cypress the taxpayers of
the city in anything like the proportion
that the Railroads benefit her business.
This communication has already become
much longer than l expected when l COM
menced writing, but l find l have not yet
exhausted the subject, and will, with your
permission, conclude the discussion in your
mex issue.
TFAgDT CTADD