The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1877-02-09

would increase eaci. mans taxes
about 1-l5tb, SO that q man who
now pays SIS tax would then pay
SIC, q man who now pays $50 would
then pay S32, man who now pays
$3.50 would then pay $160 and so on.
This would be the increase Of taxa
ton If the railroad itself paid no
taxes and caused no addition of
property TO the assessment roll.
Every candid man must agree that
the probability is altogether in ia
yor of the railroad, and the increase
of taxable property it would bring
here, paying all and more than the
tax on account of IFS bonds, and
the taxes Of each present taxpayer
would be lessened instead of in
creased, by voting these bonds.
Taking the question of freight in
to consideration, q reduction of ten
per cent, on the $4,000 paid in
1876 for freight both ways between
Emporia and Kansas City, would
save $14, 600, or nearly twice the in
terest on the narrow gauge bonds.
A reduction OF twenty-five per cent.
would save $4,000 in freight, or as
much as all the interest upon our
present railroad bonds and the pro-
posed narrow gauge bonds. That
the bulk, at least, of freight comes
ont of the pockets of the people of
Lyon county, and especially of the
farmers of Lyon county, has been 80
frequently and clearly demonstrated
in cur columns that we need not
now undertake to prove the fact
ever again. And we cannot see
why dollar saved in freight is not
worth anything. We think that
two or three dellars saved in freight
ought to be counted as at least
equal to one dollar saved in taxes.
AS to the probability of q reduction
in freights in consequence of the
narrow gauge being built, we have
no doubt and we think there is no
reasonable room for doubt on that
point. Granting, as we demonstra-
ted in 1875 by column after col
umn of matter on the subject, that
narrow gauge roads can afford to
charge much lower rates than stan
dard gauge roads can, the next
fact is that q narrow gauge road
must adopt: lower rates than it
finds here, in order to get business,
and that it has nothing to fear from
any competition the other roads
may offer, because it can afford low
or rates than they can. They have
cause to fear it's competition, but it
has no cause to fear their competi-
ton. 1t is master of the situation,
and could choose between the share
it could get Of the $4,000 now
paid for freights and the amount
the other roads could afford to pay
it for not doing any business here.
We submit that if it's managers
were willing to make their road I'M
popular, if the M. K. s. T. and A.
T. s. S. f. roads paid them a bonus
to do so foolish and unnecessary a
thing, that those roads could not
affOrd to pay any bonus equal to
the patronage the public stands
ready to give to a low freight and
low fare road. The reasonable sup
position is that the narrow gauge
road would adopt narrow gauge
schedules of rates in Lyon county
as well as elsewhere, and thus low
er freights considerably that it
would pay and cause to be paid as
much tax into the county treasury
as the interest on the bonds would
amount to that it would settle the
question of the metropolis of South
ern Kansas in favor of Emporia !;
aud that Lyon county would stead
lily increase in population, produc-
ton and prosperity, and be one of
the very best counties in Kansas for
farmers to sell their products at
COED prices and buy their merchan-
disc at low prices, and suffer no in
crease of present taxation.