The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-06-29
BONDING CITIES TO BUILD
RAILROADS,
Some Thingsf for the People Of Wheel
Ing, and Especially for Council, to
Think About.

Some Things for the People OF Wheel.
ing, and Especially for Council, to
Think About. TY
The following article Is from that excel.
lent financial authority, the New York
Commercial Bulletin. 1t deserves to be
thoughtlully considered by the members
of the City Council:
There are significant signs that the
mania for building new railroads has
reached It's last stages Of exhaustion. The
public, both home and abroad, have been
SO surfeited with the issues of our new
roads, that 1t Is found difficult to negotiate
any bonds, except those issued by roads
Of more than ordinary promise and which
are backed by capitalists Of the b shest
standing. Under these circumstances,
railroad promoters have hit upon the OK.
pedient OF borrowing the credit Of cities or
counties on the route Of the road, which Is
regarded as strengthening the credit Of the
road ITSELF It Is proposed to build new
Pacific road, to large extent, upon the
credit Of two cities, St. Louis and San
Francisco, each city to contribute $lO,.
0OO,0 900 Of bonds; and 10 Ohio and Iowa
the same policy is being adopted in many
places, upon n smaller scale.
Now, 1t appears to us that cities should
think twice before they commit them.
selves to any responsibilities OF this charc.
ter. 1t is doubtless very convenient re.
sort Of railway spectators, when they
find no market for the bonds on which
they expect to build the road, 10 take into
their scheme few city politicians and
through their aid get the endorsement OF
whole population. They thus get o
security which can be easily marketed,
and the completion of the road Is assured.
But does 1t equally answer the purpose Of
cities to contract these obligations!
We very much fear that the history of
some of our cities will sooner or later
supply sad negative to this question.
as rule, railroad trhich cannot com.
mand Tie eOlfdenes Of ancestors upon ia
o'eH merits Is N lacking Of intrinsic re-
sources that IL ought not to reeeirs The
pecuEiary support Of city government.
Cities are not organized for any such pur.
pose; and the moment the people, in their
corporate capacity, become spectators in
railroad ventures, they enter on a path
the lcgimalc end of which is civic bank.
ruptcy. Let 1t but once be understood by
the politicians Of our cities that they can
lend the credit OF the corporation TO any
scheme that comes along, and they at
once discover a new opening for corrup.
ton and II becomes part Of their bust.
ness to barter away the city credit 10 any
plausible speculation that may seem to
offer some local advantage
As the finances Of our cities are now
conducted it is no easy task for them to
maintain their credit for purposes coming
within the strict scope of civic govern.
ment; and il cities ore TO take part in rail-
road enterprises, sharing in their peculiar
risks, lenders will regard city debts as
having become liable to an indefinite ex-
panslon, and will naturally reject them
except at a heavy discount We do not
understand how St. Louis or San Fran
cisco can afford to spend each ten millions
upon building railroad to run through
unsettled country, when as young cities
they may finu it necessary 10 borrow
large amountssfor strictly local improve
ments; they certainly cannot do it with.
out inviting serious injury to their credit.
This system Of bonding cities for rail.
road purposes should be regarded as
throwing doubt upon any undertaking
that seeks such support. 1t isa comics
sion OF intrinsic weakness, and places the
road in the position of a decripit merchant
whose paper cannot be negotiated with.
out an endorsement; while it places the
city in the position of the deluded en-
dorSer, who, experience proves, has in too
many cases to pay debt for which no
equivalent has been received.