Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1873-02-13
The Black River Railroad.

1In time of peace prepare for war;" i
an adage having IN its generic idea I
much wider application than its mer'
military sense. 1t is the universal law
of self-defence and the road to success
for the farmer, mechanic, merchant
city, county or State.
Even the time of adversely and de.
preston in community, has its value
as the best of all times in which t.
clean out the boilers, repair the fur.
naces and clear away the rubbish, fol
the time Of prosperity sure to follow.
As regards the present condition o.
our county and town, we cannot say
that We are suffering from surplus o.
either money or business. We have
''peaee" in abundance, and we think il
good time to tighten up the girths up
on our business studs-take good look
at the surroundings, and prepare for
the dash after something better for our
county and town than has been accom-
plished In the past.
We must fight in self-defence if we
would even hold our own; forward or
backward are the alternatives now in
force; cities and towns around us are
growing with unexampled rapidity, and
we may either share in the division OF
the spoils, or quietly go to rest and suf-
fer our estate to be administered among
our more enterprising sister towns.
What We want is more manufactur-
ing capital. Trade and commerce, while
they have their uses and benefits, never
yet made a new dollar on the face of
the earth. They are the necessary
handmaidens of manufactures but only
tax the consumer for bringing to him
that which somebody else created else
where.
We want our hills disemboweled and
their pent-up forces converted into
roaring steam; our iron ores tortured
into whirlIng shafts, and labor-saving
machines, the mud of our fire-clays
squeezed into bricks for our furnaces,
pottery for our kitchens and roofing
for our houses, and then will our fields
groan in pain parturienC i'm bringing
forth the needed harvest to support the
grim alchemists who transmute our
very soil to gold.
But how shall all this come about?
We have gold locked up i'm our hills
without measure, but as vet we have not
the key 10 unlock the doors and bid il
sally forth. The magic key is capital.
and the condition upon which it will
come to us is safety and the chief ele-
ment of safety lie a wide open door in
the shape of largely increased facilities
for transportation without which there
is neither certainty nor safety. We
know this in our past experience, for
we haye tried the experiment to our
cost.
We need the Black River Road in or
der that Holmes county coal may help
sound the pipes of commerce on the
Lakes, and in return bring us back the
Lake Superior ores to coax our coal
from out its hiding places in the hills.
The Directors of this road have for
the past week been endeavoring to set
tie the right of way through our town.
ship as necessary requisite before the
cost of the road can be ascertained, and
the question determined whether it can
be built or not.
All they ask is to be met in that spir-
it of fairness which they believe is just
ly due the enterprise in which they la
Dor, and We hope and believe that the
owners of the land through which the
line may pass, fortunately, we honestly
believe, will look at the matter in the
light of our county's best interests and
not endeavor to cut the goose before it
has laid for US the golden egg. 80