The Benton weekly record., 1882-07-27
yT0yAs P4ILHUaD GEATRE

BENTON as PaILHOlD cEAIRE
Har<5lY 4 dag passes that some nsEs
event does ioF rsatssplre u confirm " y
tI,= lei4f that Bnott il destined ~ y.
COME The lead ng railroad 'owt'---ts''E aiot't-
u Montana, bul + tie Ftioe IGoIgslWeseti. /.
portion. 1T lie Continent
Al Tie present lime there are no t's9s
Than six raiiroaeEs reseting out III sltlf tlt-
rpet3on, aus; they esjtl eventually tap Sen
fotl either vttl1 tneir maln lines o. VIII
brHneh roads. The Us.,5 & Ntrt1=i'l }ias
alreuiy surveyea ii i patHb neaF Btsttett:
tle Northern Pacific Surveying party 1s
aC Arrow creek. and tile Calla'jtau rarill'
Iakes 10 secret IT tle fics ltsat Bst1to" ts
ole OF its objective points. Besides t1est
there are TWO giyjtl roads, tie Chicago ai't
Northwestern, and Chicago, Milwaukee
and ST. Paul, building side by side VIII
the ostensibie object Of reaching The Goa!
beds Of the Souri>, OF Mouse RIVER, but IL
reality are making for this point, aa4 lhs
st. Paul, AIinn. ana Manitoba road have
wears ago declared their intention u
stretching ont towards the upper Missouri
river.
The mere assertion Of a belief that these
roads are coming TO Benton OF course
proves nothing, buC The facts that have
caused this belief are opent investigation,
and are we'll worthy tie study Of any one
interested i'll the growth and prosperity 4
Benton. we know that rivalry exists
among ali railroad corporations, and we
know thar there is opposition between rail-
read Atld river treigi3ung. Now 'he raii-
road that would lautruI the river traffic
must come 10 The head uf navigation, ana
10 compete with this road, ali rival roads
/ must come 10 he head Of naFI CATION. Tue
| local business Ut airy otle town OF Mon-
tuu; il not sufficient 10 draw q gailt oad 70
1t, and YET v haf greater lnducement las
afiy town outside u RttllOn 20 Offer! Iile
great trHlls-vo 4IiuenGal rUutessmusG select
/ the mos aya1a5le country to build thelE
roads, and iu their course may tcu Ii the
+ present commercial centres IT the Ierl1-
/ tory. but we STE i'll the facC that the Utah
| a Northern has nIatle no IF ut 10 reach
| Iiel4na, that tue local trade ot soWli--aL
/ least such towns as we have III Montant--
/ X. alone, 10 inducetlent tOr the cX(ehs;un
| III 4 road. But at Benton we have the
The practically unlimited natural resources
Of the country, aud We have therefore, good
reason TO believe that Benton is the future
railroad centre OF Montana Territory.
We mentioned above that The Chicago &
NorLhNestern and Chicago, st. Paul q
I Minneapolis roads \ ere headitlg for the
coat beds Of Souris or Mouse river. THAT
these coal beds are not he real objective
point OF the two greAtIoa Is evident from
tile fact that tile coal has been tested ants
proved to be almost worthless. huI, one
roa having ostensbly st1rte'i for Eh s
point The rival route was bound 10 follow,
aud they will. continue side by de until
they reach the h ad OF navigation Oh the
/ Missouri, which every one connected with
the roa,ls now BELIEVES To be their real q s.
/ tinatjon. It'll i like manner, but with more
reason, The st. Paut, Milan. s. " nitoha
road is heading for Fort Boiord Oh the
Nj iesouri w tn the view OF controlling Monz
tana freight i'll opposition t., tie No them
/ Pacific. Of course this road has no tnte3G-
!ion of terminating pernalie aty q BtEond,
bat, having an aln0-t uattlaI road bel
e., IN that poiit 70 BENTON. viii keep fiS Sht
On until It terGlilatts a. TIL had ot nayt-
CATION. Thus we shall have aIl tn q eat
rival roads cent. rug at-th S poi@t il oppo-
zitiou to The sleame on he Nj soul
river, and Yer, # ue may judge tosn the
result OF railroad eompetIt4oa with other
rivers, lhe steamboat inlere8s OF the Mis-
souri, " i'll NOT be seriously affected By the
opposition OF even six great roads. On
The Red river OF the north, in 1870, there
was but one steamer. Two roaoA, of.e o.
+ each side Of The stream, competed tor The
traffic, aud yet at The present day there ar-
twenty-five steamers successfully Gotnpet~
ing with those TWO roads. THE Ohio. Mis-
sis$ippi, Tennessee and other great water
highways are also examples OF the fact
that railroads do not drive steamers from
the rivers, but the steamers are and always
| will Be successful 10es 10 railroad monop-
i ely.