The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1868-12-03

W1k o1A> VAVN<"* SV"s"s'ss"
". B MITCHELL. EDITOR.
Thursday, Dec. 8, 1858.
T1zn NoRTnnnn PACIFIC RAIL-
ROAD SUBSIDY.
A correspondent Of the Mankato
Reoord takes The JOURNAL to task for
urging upon Congress the granting Of
subsidy to the Northern Pacific Rail.
road equal in amount to that given tn,
Union Road. The editor sustaius the
correspondent, and claims that the land
grant u sufficient ia itself to enlist
capital in tho construction Of the road,
should there Be any public necessity
for it. The complaint il made that any
further aid would be inpoverishins the
people for the benefit Of already power
1uA coSp0ratl0ns.
In spite Of these protests, We must
continue to maintain that Congress can
justly be called upon to extend direct
pecuniary aid to this great national on
terprise. For years it has been a set
tied policy with tho government to
make appropriations il money to furth-
er such projects as would result in ben
eft to the nation At large or to extend
ed districts Of country. 1t is \ wise
policy. Revenue invested in this way
returns multiplied many fold. Tho
wealth Of . uatiou-and especially ono
such ~ this-is it. development. The
more rapidly this can be brought about,
the sooner unoceupied tracts Of eoun-
try can be settled with IN Industrious
people, the more thoroughly the whole
area l. utilized the greater become the
resources Of the government. A sub
sidy to work such - the Northern
Pacific Railroad appears in tho eharac-
ter Of an investment, and to our mind;
At least, = very profitable one on the
part Of the nation At large. The line
would pass through and open up to i'm
mediate settlement . vast tract Of fertile
country, now almost wholly uniahabit.
ID BY reason Of the great distance from
markets. The countries Of tho Old
World would pour forth Thousands Who
would gladly take homes on either side Of
this road, and every man, and every acre
Of ground With it, products, would pay
tribute to the government ~. . return
for the subsidy which hsd wisely been
granted the work At it beginning. In
stead Of impoveri.hing the people, it
would bring greatly increased popula-
ton TO bear the burdens Of taxation,
and help pay the debt already incurred.
In this view alone-and the case il
plain .one-the subsidy granted tho
Northern Pacific Railroad would really
DO step in the DIGESTION Of true econ
omy. Docs any man consider the mon
ey wasted which he pays in the shape
Of local taxes, for opening up reads
through his own county, Does not
every man in Minnesota know that when
tract Of country is made easy Of &C.
cess, settlement follows with wonderful
rapidity7 We could readily instance
townships which, without single SET
tier one season, had thirty and forty
families tho next, all through the OPEN
ing Of ssate o. County road. These
are home results, which We al know
and appreciate. The money 20 sxpena-
cd il considered well invested. Let;,he
same principle be applied to the North
ezn Pacific Railroad, and what grand
results ars opened to view! What Z
succession Of homesteads, what an area
Of wild land reclaimed and waste plac.
q made glad, do We SEQ following the
line Of this great road Sci lemeqt
would even precede it, and the iron
rails would pass westward between tenc-
ed fslds. The tax imposed by tho sub
sidy, distributed over the whole country,
would be NO more .ppreciable to the
individual taxpayer than is the sum be
pays for his county roads. The subsidy
Is large one, it is true, but il should
be remembered that it is only the inter.
eat on the bonds which the people are
called upon to pay. The burden it
would impose would be slight indeed -
compared With the benefits it would pro-
duee.
When the advantages that are to be
derived BY this road, a . carrier O, the
commerce of China, Japan sud the H.
dies from the Pacific to the Atlantic,
and the grain of America on it, way ia
the manufacturing countries Of the Old
World shortening the time one-half-
when these also are taken into consid.
GRAFTON, W cannot imagine how any
man can hesitate 10 urging the wisdom
of = subsidy, unless interested in some
rival loe, which we do not believe thi.
correspondent to b.
And here il another reason which
gives tho friends Of the Northern Pacif:
10 Railroad = right to even demand Of
Congrsss pecuniary aid. It is tho RE-
o9dent Of the loan to the Union Pacific
line. What has been given that road,
built to increase the wealth and pros-