The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1881-02-17

the RAAAoAD BOND QUESTION
We pablish In thls paper two co.,
munioaGions upon the voeing of fail
rod bends, wherein tie coeFsspoud-
eats express Themselves - being op.
posed 10 them, and sndeavor 70 give
their reasons therefor. At the outset
We gave prominence to the hope that
there would be . full and free discus
sion BY the Taxpayers, both In and out
Of print, with reference to voting
bonds 10 the proposed railway. Il b
much bsttef 1be Ill parties concerned
that Arguments, both for and against
the proposstsoo, should Be brought out,
and the votsss will thus b enabled 10
vote intslligsntly. While the editor
Of this paper b In favor Of voting the
bonds, he d disposed to open his col
umns - well to those who are opposed
to tho bonds - to those who ore In
favor Of them. There II nothing to
b disguised In this discussion. II the
proposition can not Withstand the
storms Of the critics, It deserves to 60
down. Let It stand on it, own merits,
and after the voters have had It pre-
sentsd in all it, bearings, let them
calmls and deliberately "make up
their verdict"
This much IL In explanation Of our
desire to recognise the honest views
Of all Others, whether they coincide
with our own or not. We favor q
healthy competing line Of railroad for
Saline county, because We believe 1t to
b essential to the well-being Of every
person who isto ship out Of the county
or in, . dollar's worth Of goods or who
shall make his habitation here. And
our earnest conviction, after carefully
scrutinizing the Proposed railroad now
under consideration, IL that the To-
peka, Salina and Western company
was conceived to advance the material
interests Of those sections through
which 1t 10 designed to proceed. The
gentlemen ct Salina who originated
the outline Of the road, - we'll a.
those at Topeka and the other points
Of the route. are the very best citizens,
who pledge their sacred honor to .
faithful rendering Of the trusts i'm
posed in them. The people have tried
them before In several capacities and
they have not been found wanting.
Our correspondents do not fail to
bring up the usual objection that some
one may come along to buy up and
consolidate" This II the first ghost
that stalks in at our happy railroad
feast. That Il .. evil III We may 20
term IT. We have tv experience in rail.
road building. We admit that there ID
. possibility that Jay Gould, or Van
derbilt, or some one else, may come
along and I" buy up and consolidate"
1t might be done even II the Topeka,
Salina and Western should become a.
great, powerful and q wealthy . cor
poration - any Of the great trunk
lines which have built up and done 10
much good for the New West. This
company IL home enterprise. born Of
stern necessity for competition,
and on the score Of . "gobbling-up"
process we may we'll console Ourselves
that Ito be forewarned is to be fore
armed" and look out fer breakers
ahead" - it were. The new company
was organised with view eingle to an
exigency Of this kind. But are We to
discontinue railroad building In this
country, where 1t 10 20 much needed,
just for the reason that there exists q
railroad magnate who is capable of
doing such things? Certainly not.
The second skeleton which appears
Ii that the Kansas Pacific and T., s. &
W. will pool their earnings. Yes, that
may be 80 but did 1t ever occur to the
person making THE objection that at
competing points freight rate are al
ways cheaper, whether the roads pool
Or not. Not long since the Kansas Pa
cific and the NJ, X. q T. were pooling,
and during that time farmers went
from near Abilene and other neighbor-
ing towns to Junction City to sell their
wheat, because prices were much bet
ter at the latter place than at the other
towrs where there was only one rail-
road. Statistics ere presented 10 show
. that on the Michigan Southern and
The Northern Indiana, although for
The last nine yeare consolidation Of
lines has been the order Of
he day, and when that was not posi-
bic pooling Of earnings has been re-
'orted to to keep up the rate, yet in
nine year, the average charge pes ton
per mile hse fallen t. ebout oneJffA Of
What wa ACTUALLY charged over the
anne roads operated Independently"
Heavy taxes " Is another argument
presented ~ tn" opponents Of the
Is ther~ anything In
.hisr The line of the proposed road
IN Salire COUNT will Re about thirty
.hrea mice. The amount asked in
,onds 10 81, OoC. or less than s., 200 to
he mile. On this amount We are
asked 70 pay pc, cent. Per annum. or
lbout SisI per milo. KansaG railroads
are Talued at from "a 900 to s., OcO per
nils. Should our take. b. 4 per cent,
which they often are. the railroad IS
'esssd at 1i.0Oo per mill, would pay |
INTO the county treasury sle0, - sf1set |
he S1s7 spoken Of above. But the
average assecsed valuation Of these |
roads i. about e $50 instead Of q, 900 |
per mile. Add to this the increase In |
the value Of our farms ard their pro-
che5psf coal and n"csesaries |
II life, enhanced activity Of immiSra-
ion and trade renerallv, and coneid- |
,rable Gazing in the cost Of Transports
ion by the railroad competition A.
0rded.
The opponent Of the proposition says
10 IL opposed to the county taking any
took In the road. Why should II MT
- donef Other counties Of Kansas