Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1879-06-10
Che Daily grfss aud 9atstatan
.vAMkToh DAKOTA
Tuesday Evening, June 10, 1879.
THE D. s. EXTENSION.

Ihe v. .. EXTENSION.
The Views and Conclusions Of Valley
Newspaper Upon hi Subject.
Rockport Pioneer.
There is probably no region within the
limits Of the United States that is now at
tracing 90 much attention a the james
river valley. People from all parts of the
union are fiocking to il BY thousands. and
within a brief period it will be one Of the
most densely populated and wonderfully
productive regions in the northwest.
The great. and universally acknowledged |
desideratum Of this region is railroads, and
railroads it must and will have.
One road, the Milwaukee and st. Paul, !
sturdy pioneer that it is, has already pene-
trated it, and as far as its scope will admit,
will be Of great benefit. But it cannot. nor
do We suppose it aims to %monopolize the
carrying business of this entire region. Be-
ing an east and west line, it can draw only
for a given distance on either side Of it, and
thus is left both to the north and to the
south a large extent of fertile and produc.
tive country, entirely bereft of the benefits
of a railroad.
Nothing can be more obvious than the
fact that = north and south line, such as
would be an extension of the Dakota South
ern, would have a field, which for the dis
play of enterprise and the reaping of benefit
would be %unequaied in the wet.
1t could be extended. nearly upon an air
line, and at = cost of fifty per cent. lower
than is generally required for the building
Of a railroad, through a country over three
hundred miles in extent, and Of almost in.
comparable fertility and resources, and this
with but little prospective opposition or
competition.
1t seems strange that so favorable an op.
p%ortunity for securing a line which must be-
COM a leading th%oreughfare, being practi-
cally an air line from the northwest 10 Chi
cago, should be neglected by q corporation
60 enterprising and ambitious as the North
western, and We are confident that it will
not. Everything in the nature of the case
indicates that this line will be built, but the
people Of this valley and vicinity who are
interested in its construction, must not i'm.
agine that because of these favorable ap.
pearances, they can afford to sit idly BY with
folded hands waiting for the road to come tc
them.
Railroad corporations expect encourage.
ment and assistance. 1t is a %time-honored
custom to grant them %favors, and in THU
case the company can afford to wait, il
these are withheld, until the development,
Of the country, imperatiyely demands tina,
they be bestowed in order to secure tran
sportation. This being the case, If we ge,
a road Mt once, something must be done a
once, and as We shall have to contribut,
some time to the building of a road, WHY
not do it now that we may derive immedi
ate benefit? All who are interested in thi
country should take this matter IN hand a
once, but it especially behooyes the people
of Yankton and vicinity, who are NOR.
particularly interested than the residents o
any other locality along the route, to tax,
action Immediately.
1t is we'll enough for the people Of Yank
ton to get together, as they recently did, ane
say that this extension was a good thing
much needed, very desirable and all that
but such action means nothing, amounts t.
nothing.
Instead Of resolving as they did to wal
until the company made them a PROPOSE
ton, they should have taken into conside
ration the fact that the company, through
its representative, John l. Blair, hae
already made them a proposition, and i
they could not agree to this they should
have made a proposition to the com
pany.
There is nothing like active agitation
for developing a subject. nor is there any.
thing like striking while the iron is hot
Yankton needs this line up the valley much
more than even her most prominent citizent
seem to suppose. Cut off largely from the
rival trade, her main standby, by the lines
of road which will soon strike it to the
north Of her, and deprived Of much of the
trade of the james river valley by the same
means left with a single line OF road, owe,
which little business will pass unless it il
extended, and with prospective Commercial
c%enters to the north of her, fed by leadin,
railroad lines, surrounded by ~magniicen
agricultural districts, and susceptible o
wondrous growth, her prospects for attain
ing commercial supremacy or prominence
in any sense of the term are exceedingl,
limited. This valley road is her only sal
walton. Let her leave nothing undone tina
vi1l tend IN aocnro ifa conot,ncf;op