The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-05
MERCHANTS AND PROPERTY OWN
ERS.

-~ Il
A very small exercise Of liberality or
rather of sagaeity on the part OF property
owners only is necessary to insure the COM
pletion of the New Orleans Pacific Railway.
Not much more than half million dollars
loaned on mortgage bonds or subscribed to
the stock OF the road will be sufficient. We
do not believe in the argument that men
should put their money into railroads or
other material works simply through public
spirit or patriotism. II the New Orleans Pa
cific will not be success as a business enter
will do very absurd thing, and will In
nowise advance the interest OF their town.
Upon the other hand, II there are plain, incon-
trovertible, common sense reasons for believ-
ing that lit will pay, 1t will be an everlast-
ing disgrace to New Orleans II the very
small sum required to insure its building Is
not subscribed. Whether it will pay Is, of
course, to certain extent, conjectural; but
all human evidence, all reasonable probabili-
ties are that ID will. These probabilities, in
deed, are 80 strong that 1t is difficult to see
how any man who has a spot Of ground in
New Orleans can hesitate to contribute to the
WOIh We ScuUuLo bDG dCscA uloA ehuo uhOAo
is not city in the United States, or for that
matter, in the civilized world, that would not
long since have taken up an enterprise OF 80
much promise and importance and construct
edit.
Why then will not our property holders
take up the New Orleans Pacific Railroad
and subscribe to 1t wisely il not gener-
ously? We have heard men say that the
merchants were to be the chief benef-
Charles, and they alone should contribute the
means required. This is a very great error.
The merchants OF course will be benefited, but
not more than other classes Of the commu-
nifty; and. SO far as we can learn, they have
evinced liberal spirit toward the enterprise
and are ready to do more If our property
holders will join with them We feel safe,
after personal interviews with leading mer-
chants of the city. in saying that ii the road
were completed the merchants, as general
thing, would be able and Milling to pay an
advance of twenty-five per cent on their
present rents.
To instance the disposition of the mer-
chants in this respect, we will mention the
fact that only a day or two ago one of the
lOfhoihes vi olookey picpoE'Ou W u WOHlbhy
property holder, whose building they occu-
pied, to sign an obligation to pay him two
thousand dollars additional rent per year for
five years, commencing from the completion
Of the New Orleans Pacific, il he would sub
scribe a fair sum to the enterprise. The pro-
perty holder subscribed four thousand dollars
and the firm promptly executed the obliga-
ton. We know of another firm who, some
months ago, proposed O similar arrange
ment This indicates the confidence of
business men in this great work. Many of
them have subscribed literally, and they
are willing to do more il they could. But it
must be borne in mind that tradesmen gen.
orally have all their capital invested in their
business indeed, most of them not only
have all their capital invested, but also
largely run their credit, and consequently
have no means to put In enterprises which
even their Judgment assures them would
benefit the city and increase their own trade.
1t is not reasonable, therefore, to expect the
commercial part of the community to build
this road alone. Every class of the COM
munity would be benefited by its construc-
ton; the merchant, the laborer and the
mechanic, and no class more, as we
have shown, than the property holders
We press the Importance Of this work upon
the property holders of New Orleans because
we believe that it is essential to the growth
and prosperity of our city, and the growth
and prosperity of the city necessarily means
that of the property holding and all other
classes
A Glasgow letter gives Grants daily pro-