The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-02-03
THE Hs. ss. PROPOSITION.
&haG Clay District Says "A bout
Ea--Eacts. Figures and solid
Arg ument.

very fayorably considered by The
people Of this end Of the county. Il
seems to meet the approval Of very
large majority Of our people, and
/ judging from what we hear the PEG
pie say upon the subject, it is just
what they want, and the friends ol
the enterprise are buoyant-are con
fident that the proposition will carry
by decided majority. They appre-
ciate the fact that it will give to the
county such railroad facilities as will
make old Monongalia one Of the ban,
ner counties of the State.
There are many reasons why our
people should support the proposition,
and among Others we think the fol.
lowing should claim their attention
and consideration:
First: We think that the present
proposition makes q fair and equit
able distribution of the money and
gives to all sections of the county
equal adyantagcs-at least as much
so as any proposition could possibly
do; and while some Of our good peo-
pie would say otherwise, they must
not forget that the geography Of our
county is such as to make it impos
sible to build railroads within sight
Of every mans door; and when we
are considering questions of public
utility, that concerns the county at
large, we must lay aside our local
prejudiees and view the matter in a
board and liberal sense, having regard
only for those matters that will re-
suit in the most general good to the
people at large
Second: We would say to the
friends Of the enterprise that we be-
lieye this is the most favorable OPP
portunty that has ever been presented
to the people to secure our county
railroad facilities, and as we said be
fore it is on a just and fair basis and
should commend itself To all our PEG
Pile 1t will not do for us to rely on
some great railroad company to build
q road through our county for us
unless we give them some encourage
ment We have been for many years
impoltuning companies to build us
railroads and develop our county,
but our efforts have so far been futile;
and if it will pay companies to build
railroads why will it not pay the
county, for instance: 1t will take one
hundred and twenty thousand dol
lars to build the Blacksmith and Nor
gantown Narrow Gauge Railroad,
and according to the order presented
by the County Court the county will
own twelve hundred shares, or one
half of said railroad stock; and judg
ing from the reports of nearly every
railroad in the country, it would not
be unreasonable to estimate the earn
ings of our road at forty thousand
dollars per year. Allowing go per
cent of the gross earnings to pay the
interest on the county bonds and for
operating and maintaining the road,
would leave 4 net income Of sixteen
thousand, which would entirely Hqui-
date the bonds OF the county in ten
years, to say nothing Of Ithe earnings
of the river road.
Third: Another important reason
why our people should support the
propositions: AT present the people
Of the west end of the county are iso-
lated from our county seat, and as a
result there is very little business re
lations existing between the two sec
tons of the county, we are scarcely
acquainted with each other, and a
feeling of prejudice has grown up
against the people of Morgantown
which should not exist.
Let us build the railroads and in
stead of this jealousy and envy that
now exists the people of the county
will learn to know each other better.
They will learn to appreciate the fact
that what is of advantage to one sec
tion Of the county will not be an in
jury to the other. Our people will
soon begin to take pride in our county
seat, and will be glad to see it build
ing up and spreading out and beeom-
ing prosperous and wealthy. Suppose
for instance, Morgantown had a pop
ulation of ten thousand inhabitants
full of life and business activity; the
people of the county would have just
that many more people to feed, which
would afford them great deal better
market for all they have to sell, than
they have at present.
Fourth. Another reason suggests
itself why people should support the
proposition: County pride should
urge its claims in behalf of the en-
terprise Not many years ago Mon
ongalia was one of the wealthiest
counties of the State, with a larger
population than any of her sister
counties, but to-day she is being left
behind in wealth and population by
all her adjoining counties, and why
is this? Is it because her people are
less intelligent? No; but because
she has no railroad facilities; no com
munieation with the outside world,
and our energetic business men leave
her borders and 60 where they have
the advantage of railroad transporta-
tioa and travel. Every citizen of
half unwilling to accept this as the
county should feel Inundated at the
fact that our renreSentation in tho