Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1859-04-22
The Aroos,ook Railroad Act.
The Belfast Age after rrcapiiula,ing the
provisions OF this act, comments upon the
nro;ect Ms follows:

The Belfast age after rtcaTi'ulating 'hc
provisions Of this act, comments upon the
project as follows:
1.-The road when built becomes the prop
erty Of the Railroad company. The State
sell. its lands, and throws the amount in
to build the road. and retains no claim up
on il when built. The inducement there
foro for a railroad company to build road
from Bangor to Mattaaamkrag, sixiy-two
miles, Is that they will become the propric-
tors Of tho whole road when completed.
Whether this will be sufficient induccmcn,
remains to be seen. should the people rati-
~ the act. To build the road from Bangor
to Ma,iawumkcag cannot cos, less than one
and a halt million dollars IL will probably
two millions. We should hardly want to
take chance with the original s,ockhold.
er. in such an enterprise. The idea that
such road Gun be made to pay, II built,
for the next ten generations, looks very
moonshiny.
But how will this matter leave tho State
suppose the people vote in favor, and thus
part with every acre Of their public land.
The State i now IN deb, over three fourtbs
Of million dollars. partly for these very
lands, and the people have been looking to
them rs source Of revenue with which tn
nay the debt; and there il no doubt that
there are lands enough II properly disposed
OF to much more than pay all our indebted.
mess. II the lands are parted with for this
purpose, the State must meet II. liabilities
by imposing tax upon the people. Our
take. are therefore TO he largely increased.
II will he In reality the lcvying OF tax
upon the people TO build the road. only IL
will be done in roundabout, way.
Now we think. before the people vote
away their land. Tor such a purpose and
consent, to pay their State deb, ont Of their
pockets, they will want 70 BE- satisfied on
one or two points and the frst is, whether
such n road is really needed 90 develop the
resources Of Aroostook or 90 benefit the
people who are going TO reside there, to
any extent commensurate with this great
cos, Of the road. We hardly think this
will be pretended. A. far as the Aroostook
people themselves arc concerned. they now
have railroad extending from within ak
miles Of lloul,on 90 the ssaboard at Calai.
and this without having to pay or the state
having 20 pay single dollar. ia road is
to b. bull, merely Tor the benefit Of ARGOS.
took why no, begin at lIoul,on and gn up
into the interior, where every mile would
directly bcnsG, more or les oi the settlers
Secondly the people will wan, TO know
about wha, year Of our Lord il will he.
when there will he public lands enough
sold a, a dollar an acre in cash TO actual
settlers 10 40 lar complete the road that il
will BE- Of the least advantage TO the Aroos-
took people. II is quite little distance
from Ma,,awamkcag TO anything like the
centre of the Aroos,ook region. Now for
the State to 90 10 work and sell portion
OF it, mos, valuable lands. sufficient per
hap. u build twenty or thirty miles ofroAd
and then have TO stop for want OF purcha..
ers OF the land. for an indcfn,, period !.
but little better than throwing away what
!, does cSrend. This idea Of attempting TO
build railroad a, the COS, Of some s35,.
600 per mile by selling 100 acre lots at
dollar an acre and getting pay in cash for
them looks 20 Us like rather slow business.
We should fear tha, the rail. OF the fir,
ten miles would rot before the last would
b. completed Perhaps however money
could BE- obtained to put the road along and
wal, ull il was realized gu, Of the lands,
hn, it j. to be borne in mind that some
two million. have 60, to 30 obtained IN or.
der to re, tho rad to the poin, where tho
State aid begins.
But the whole squint Of this enterprise
is in the direction, not Of developing the re-.
sources Of Arros,ook, hot TO the carrying
out the great humbug PROJECT Of railroad
from Portland 10 ilrliiaI-an undertaking
which should il ever he accomplished could
but result in a magnificent failure. The
idea that passenger, from Europe bound for
Portland. Boston or New York. will eve-
upon their arrival at Halifax leave the
steamers and complete the rect of,heir jour.
ney by railroad, at at least three times the
amount Of fare they would have to pay IL
they KEEP, right on in the steamer is hardly
reasonable one. No such roal will ever
be built, aud to strip the State Of IT'S lands
to build connecting link for tina, purpose,
is merc., folly. I, is no better than throw.
inc the public lands entirely away.
Interested parties and visionary men all
over the State will no doubt 90 IN for this
measure. bu, with the mass Of the people
we believe tho sentiment is almost unani-
nous against this PROJECT; and all we have
To say to them il, IL they do not want the
State stripped Of its lands, they must be
at the ballo, box to defea. these interested
parties, who will no dOub, be there in great
numbers.
Assault iron A POLICEMAN. The Daily
AhNertiser Of fhn lnth sars that rnliremnn |