Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1879-09-06
THE MARQUETTE AND mACAINAC.

Oficial Paper ofthe County and Village
TIE MARQUETTE AND MACkINAC.
We give the response to the notice
given by the Board of Control, by the
resolution adopted at the meeting of the
board August 10, in regard to annulling
the contract of the Marquette. Sault Ste.
Marie and Mackinac company for build
ing the Marquette road. 1t was presented
and read at the meeting Of the board
held Wednesday of last week. What
ever impression may have prevailed in
regard to the previous action of that
company i'm connection with the road,
we think no better spirit could have
been shown than is exhibited in this
response andit betOkens spirit of har-
mOny between the two peninsulas in any
effort that may hereafter be put forth
to construct the road. Both peninsulas
are interested in the completion of the
road at the earliest possible day, and the
cordial acqoiesence of the old company
in any movement looking towards the
building of the road and the ordering
of the contract, by the board, with the
Detroit company, the character of the
men connected with 1t being sufficient
guaranty that the work will be put
through, would seem to indicate better
prospects for the building of the road
than has ever before been presented.
Thursday of this week was the day set for
the closing of the contract, and we feel
confident from the well known financial
ability of the gentlemen representing
the company that no time will be lost
in commencing the work and that they
will, as their representative promised
the board they would, complete twenty
miles of the road yet this fall, and that
next season will see the road completed.
OFFICE OF THE MARQUETTE, SAULT STE. ]
MARIE AND MACKINAw RAILROAD Co.,
MARQUETTE, August 25, 1879.
To the Honorable the Board of Control of
State Swamp Lands:
GENTLEMEN:-YOurc communication of
the 18th inst, addressed to the president
of this company. relative to the cOntem-
plated action to declare the contract of
this company forfeited, has been re-
ceived, and we are instructed by the
board of directors of this company to
state to your honorable board that we
have no desire to stand in the way of
your closing new contract with parties
who may present themselves at your
next or any subsequent meeting and Of
fer satisfactory assurances tOyOur board
that they will promptly commence and
prosecute the construction OF the rail-
road between Marquette and the straits
of Mackinac, as we have no other object
i'm view than to procure the construction
of that road 1T the earliest possible day.
As full and authoritative declaration
of our position in that respect, we beg
leave to refer your honorable body to
the resolutions unanimously adopted by
our board at meeting held on the 9th
day of January last, which were extern
sively published.
That proposition has been kept before
the public ever since that time and our
only effort has been to induce parties
with capital to undertake the enterprise
on the terms expressed in those resOlu-
tiOns, not insisting even that such par
ties should take any pay for our surveys
unless they should choose.
The position of this company, nOtwith-
standing the above declaration, has been
very much misunderstood, and for that
reason we beg leave briefly TO call your
attention to what we have done toward
prosecuting the construction OF the
road.
In the fall of 1872 we organized under
the general railroad law OF the state,
with view to bringing the subject be-
fore the Legislature at its then ap-
preaching session, obtaining a land
grant to aid in the construction, and, if
such legislation should be obtained, en-
listing capitalists either with us or in
our place TO carry forward the enterprise.
Through our efforts, very ably and eff
GENTLY seconded by the business men of
the city OF Detroit, as well as other pOr-
lions OF the state, the desired legislation
was obtained, and its hberality well at
tested the high appreciation of the i'm
pOrtance of the enterprise among the
Legislators and citizens of the state. In
order that no time should be lost, we
sent Mr.. S. I'll. Selden, a thoroughly COM
petent civil engineer, with corps of as
sistants, into the woods i'm the summer
of 1873, and had thorough preliminary
survey of the route made at an expense
of $4,000. 8--
During the same time we were nego-
tiating for the means to build the road,
and arrangements therefor were nearly
perfected when the financial revulsiOn
of that autumn put an end to negOtia-
tiOns for the time. We still continued
our efforts, however, and more than once
had, as we thought, the means to build
the road nearly provided, but in the I'M
settled condition of financial affairs
slight causes have i'm each instance suf-
feed to cause capitalists to hesitate and
finally decline to embark in the enter
prise.
For want of other offers the contract
was awarded to our company in 1876,
and was executed between your hOnOra-
BILE body and our company under date of
May 8, 1877, After repeated efforts to
enlist capital, we on the 18th of Septem-
Der, 1877, made contract with DIR. w.
w. Lamar to furnish the funds and
build the road. DIR. Lamar was endorsed
by prominent railroad men and he
seemed to be able to raise the capital
and carry out his contract. We have
been led to believe from time to time
that the doctor was labOring vigorously
and untiringly to accomplish that end
with every prospect of success, and we
have no reason now to believe otherwise.
AS he did not succeed, however, our
board on the 9th of January last de-
clared his contract forfeited and at the
same time adopted the resolutions above
cited.
There has been no time since then
that we have not been ready and anxious
to comply with those resolutions, and to
one party of gentlemen whom we know
and in whose honor we had entire conf
dence we some time ago made the prOpO-