The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1884-07-17

| In this issue will be found aynotice.
Of electionto yoee upon the. question
Of bonding tho town Of vatlena to.
the amount of Eleven Thoh-ond DOLL
ars for the Wadena & Park Papids
Railroad. In bonding our town for
this amount,we shall keep about Three
Hundred Dollars below the statutory
limitation of taxation for this purpose,
confining ourselves within the maxi
mum rate of five per cent. According
to the terms of the proposition that
the Railroad has mace, they propose
to complete the road ready for the
passage of cars from here to Park
Rapids, by the lst, of December 1885,
and if they fail to do this, they for
felt their right to our bonds, so that,
had they not been sure Of completing
the road within that time, the date of
its completion would have been ex.
tended.
Again we wish to call the attention
of our citizens to some of the many
advantages to be derived from the
building Of this road = 1n the first
place the road will open up a large
strip of country in the Northern part
of the county, of which part is COW
cred with q growth Of excellent hard
and soft timber, and which contains a
large amount of good farming and
meadow lands, that has heretofore
been of but little value to the county,
on account Of the large swamps lying
between here and there, making it
impossible for settlers in that region
to get to town to market thier grain,
and ship their timber, without going
more than double the actual distante>
For this reason some of the best land
in the county has been lying idle, and
as soon us Railroad is laid through
it, this difficulty will be overcome, land
settlers will begin to pour in, and the
valuation of our county and the towns
that it passes through will be greatly
increased.
In the second place, if this road is
built it will bring to this Village at
once, all the business and travel of
the Shell Prairies and the surrounding
country, which is no inconsiderable
item; and ultimately, when the road
is extended from Park Rapids north,
it will bring here or through here,
all the business of that section of |
country, and there is no part of our |
State that is better adapted to agri-
culture, milling, and all other kinds
of business than is that.
Besides this, it will, when the pre-
posed road from northwestern Iowa !
is constructed through here, as we are
confident it will be if this road is |
built, connect us with other roads, |
thereby giving us an outlet in compe.
tition with the Northern Pacific, the
advantage of which is apparent to all,
and it should be remembered thatt the
Northern Pacific owns no part of the
proposed road.
No one can say that the value of
Of property in this township will not
be greatly increased by the building
of this road. Let us see how much
it would have to be increased so that
the rate Of taxation would be no high
er than it now is while paying the
Indebtedness that the $ll, 900 bonds
with per cent. interest will have
amounted to at the end of 20 years.
The amount will be just $22, 900. The
val uation of the township last year
was .$265,000, therefore property
would have to be raised in value about
1875 per cent to compensate the prop
erty owner for the extra taxes. That
is to say, if a man is worth $1,000
before the railroad is built, the value
of his property will have to be in
creased only about 81 per year in
order to repay him for the extra tax,
and he will he taxed no higher rate
t han he now is.
In the third place, if another road
is built here or through here, the
rates Of shipping to Or from here, will
be greatly reduced by competition. it
will also give our farmers and manu-.
facturers an outlet for much that they
never before could dispose of with any
profit, and it will not be necessary for
them to depend on home consumption,
although our home consumption.will
at the same lime be gretly- increased,
by the influx of Railroad men and other
settlers through the town, for tits a fact
that people will settle along the line
of Il Railroad quicker than elsewhere.
When this road is built, Wadena will |
be at the junction of three Railroads,
and we shall then have a good pros-
pect for two more, viz: The one rum
ing south into Iowa, and the Little
Falls cutoff, which will make Wade
ma quite Railroad center. and will
place us in position to become the
chief manufacturing city west of