The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1870-03-31

10 the Editor Of the Ne0 York Times.
Conflicting interests seldom give one united
voice of praise as they do in behalf of a great
work now going forward, which is to mite ST.
Paul, Mimi, and Burlington, Iowa. bv an air.
line railroad. 1t is scarcely possible to start
a road in this great and noisy West, which
does not awaken the opposition Of rival inter
ests. But when there is an exception a first.
class road is the result, it it be not the slliest
of all attempts to enterprise, which by the wav
is never true of Western roads, know of not
one in all the West which may be called fan.
cy or Utopian stock. Such a first-class road
was the Illinois Central, because it served ev.
erybody and hurt no one. I think Won NAV
look over the length and breadth of the land.
and if a road is fit to be built at ALL and it con-
acts with no great public interest it serves. it
must rise to a frst-class stock, if it has net
already risen. Such road as this sneak of
is the Burlington, Cedar Rapids aud Minueso-
ia railway, which has reused more enerpv and
commanded more local capital than almost
any railroad of these many years. The main
object of the road is to drain the richest wheat
and other cereal producing fields of Minnesota
and Iowa of the traffic which must otherwise
remain constrained and limited. 1t runs from
| Mankato, a point where road puts out to the
southwark from St. Paul, to Burlington, Iowa.
| through the heart of the far-famed Cedar Val
| ley, the best grain garden in the world. The
productions in grain and other forms of wealth
| of the countries through which this road il to
run have nearly doubled within two wears.
stimulated by the prospect of the early COM
| pletion of the same.
| No one can foretell what great wealth is to
come to all this valley, and flow back upon the
road
| The sources Of its wealth as first-class rail-
road are its bountiful harvests of wheat. corn
and other grains: its many continents or roads
running into it, holding in its grasp the many
railroads which centre at st. Paul, and some
six roads which it crosses and connects with
the South; the control of the entire winter
trade of the Northern Pacific railroad, now
pushing forward 200 miles to Puget Sound land
the greater part of the summer trade of the
samoa large part of the Superior country trade
the new nation of the Red River country, the
coal, lumber, wheat and minerals of British
America, and the emigration thence over all
this region. These are some of the sources of
its wealth. Now, besides this, it will level
this traffic by some twenty miles nearer
than any other route to Chicago. 1t will bear
and bring to itself the greater part of all the
travel to and from this country, above Bur-
lington, over the great Toledo route to the At
lantic coast, over the Cincinnati route, over the
Chesapeake and Ohio, and over all current
and projected lines to Charleston, Mobile, Sa-
vannah or another part of the South, across
Virginia or Tennessee. 1t will control all the
trade over the Milwaukee and Omaha. 1t will
carry all the trade and passenger traffic to st.
Louis and the South, and to domestic and for
eign ports. In fact, this road serves some hall
dozen giant interests equally well without
provoking opposition, viz, the trade of Chica-
20 for all parts west of La Crosse and north OF
Omaha; the California trade for the same dis
trict; the sea-board trade over the Toledo; the
Cincinnati or any other southeastern route
its own local trade, which must be immense
and the St. Louis trade.
Ibespeak for the bonds of this road, now of.
fered in Eastern markets, a sale rapid and con-
hdent. Paying nearly 10 per cent in curren-
ey, they are better than Governments, mas
much as the prospect. is that Governments
must go as low as IL per cent. soon, and are
not more safe as an investment The earnings
OF all the roads in the country for 1867 averaged
$4,000 per mile, while some reached 60 pes
cent. of the whole cost per mile. If this road
for i've years. just after it is opened, earns nc
more than $4,000 per mile, it is easy to see nc
safer Investment in these days could be found
This Cedar Valley Road is being urged rapidly
forward in every one of its three divisions tc
an early completion. Its success cannot fail te
have an important bearing upon the prosperity
of Iowa, and all above and beyond that State
G.
Chicago, Saturday, March 10.
VIM. H. WOOD & Son, Agents, Portland.