Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1876-03-30
THE RAILROAD QUESTION.


HELENA, March oath, 1876.
70 the Editor of the Herald:
Thanking you for the opportunity Of free
discussion Oh railroad matters by throwing
open the columns Of your paper to :: a hearing
for all avail myself Of your courtesy and
advance TO the subject trust, with a caution
and deliberation which the importance of the
question SO imperatively demands. Assum-
inc that railroad to the interior Of Montana
is the suann1um 60numa of our desires, and
that we are unanimous in the belief that as a
people we will not prosper until we have a
direct and quick transit for the treasure stored
in every hill and mountain of Montana. l
ask that there shall be as great a unanimity
in our eXertions to attain this good, as there
is a universally of belief that we are in need
of quick and safe Gcliverance from the
history, that from the day of our Territorial
organization to the present time, our news
papers, our people, our Representatives, our
business men, our workers in the mines, upon
been outspoken in favor Of railroad, to
come from no matter where. The same
feeling exists to day, intensified by the hope
long deferred, and if mistake not the will
of the majority now amounts to demand
that railroad communication must be had at
the earliest practicable moment. The question
then is, can we not by putting our shoulders
to the wheel, do something to hasten the
desired consummation. The third Of April
| think presents the first opportunity for
TO make sacrifices, spend money, or do any
other act than give our assent to the only
present feasible proposition presented for a
railroad. The proposition is plain and simple,
and should be treated us business transaction
between two great contracting parties having
on one side, the Territory of Montana, with its
great mines Of gold, silver and copper, and
on the other, the North Pacific Railroad
Company with its $50 miles of railroad con-
structed and in running order, equipped with
fifty locomotives, and fifteen hundred cars,
earning above one hundred thousand dollars
annually over running expenses with land
grant Of over six millions of acres already
earned and unsoid, and a provision in its
charter which secures to it twenty five thOus-
and six hundred additional acres of land for
every mile of road to be hereafter constructed.
In such a bargain as this where the parties
in interest have at stake SO much of good,
when it is made, and so much Of evil when
not made, there should not be found dis
senting voice to the contract, especially in a
community like this where our very existence
depends upon the result.
The matter of a subsidy is not the question,
for it would be aad commentary on the astute-
ness and wisdom Of our legislators if the
Pacific Railroad Act itself did not contain
sufficient guards to prevent any such thing,
even if it were c,.mnally desired: and, also,
it would be a poor compliment to the gentle
men who presented the memorial to our
Legislature, and who only asked the loan of
Montana's credit, TO say that we will some
day be asked to pay up. The very law upon
which we are expected to act specifically
states that the Railroad Company shall pay
the interest semi-annually as ii falls due, and
also provide sinking fund to pay the bonds
at maturity in thirty years. The discussion
of this point further is not necessary, nor
does the matter of subsidy exist as a fair
business problem to be solved at the present
time.
But suppose that by our action in voting
"Eor Approval Of Railroad Act. Yes" we
involve the Territory in debt of three NIL
lions, to be paid at thirty years IA time SO far
distant that but few Of Us will live to see IT'D
when our Territory will contain population
or more than million Of people, when our
developed mines yielding their untold millions
shall enter our assessment rolls for taxable
purposes, who is it that will not see in that