The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-03-19
THE 81. CLOUD. MANKATO, AND
AUSTIN RAILWAY.

THE ST. CLOUD. MANKATO, AND
AUSTIN RAILWAY.
The st. Cloud Times of the 10th inst.
contained the following somewhat
lengthy editorial in defense of the d.
rectors of the aboye named road who
are under pretty acute fire from several
sources just at present, and since our
readers, particularly, fare interested in
this matter, we give the same entire.
Whenever a political campaign is APP
preaching and an advantage can be
gained over an opponent by throwing
dust into the eyes of the masses, and de-
ceivIng people by groundless charges,
there are always plenty of interested
and designing men to do the dirty work.
The much talked of St. Cloud, Mankato
& Austin Railroad is one of these pecu-
liar bugbears. We read in the news
papers that Lieut.. Gov. Gilman will
meet opposition on this score, should he
be a candidate for Governor; that Gen.
Baker, X X. Commissioner, is not free
from suspicion of sympathy with rail-
roads, because of his connection with
the above company; and later, and most
absurd of all, that w. Nj. CampbelPs
confirmation as U. 5. Marshal, was re-
considered 10y the Senate, because of
certain complaints" sent III that he
was connected with this company.
Could ANYTHING be more absurd to those
Cloud, Mankato 4 Austin Il. Il. from its
inception TO the present time? The
"com plants" were brought forth 10y Il
man known familiarity in Minnesota as
1.-THE little pestiferous demagogue. /.
| Donne!ly, land for these bastard charges
journalistic pirate and dead-beat, one
| Van Leuven, is wet nurse. Everything
| is in harmony. The progeny is worthy
of its prosenitor-the wet nurse is fully
competent To sustain a creature whose
nature must needs depend for life upon
the ability of its sucker To feed it upon
| falsehood, misrepresentation and fraud.
The history ofthe st. Z. Nj. & A. Il. r..
is similar 10 that of many other paper
railroads which have been and are still
being organized. 1t was formed to Sc
cure, if possible, the building of road
from st. Cloud southwest to Mankato.
Many years ago, u swamp land grant
was granted, and from time to time its
friends secured legislation tending to
make brighter the prospects for getting
|
| Once or twice people at certain of the
principal points Or its route, contri-
buted small amounts towards carrying
on surveys, ourselves among the num-
Der. For this they received receipts,
good in stock, should the project ever be
successful Finally, the company ne
gotiated with an Eastern corporation,
known, we believe, as the Construction
Company of North America, II corpora
ton which makes Il practice of building
railroads when the franchises, &c, are
such as to lead its managers to believe
that they can lease or otherwise dispose
of such roads after completion. This
Construction Company. as we under
stand it, proposed TO build the road.
provided the st. G. NJ. & A. people
would secure the voting of bonuses
along the line, at the rate of 81 900 per
mile. The Construction Company also
agreed 10 pay the usual expenses of
advertising, lawyers fees DC, and to
reimburse the st. G. NJ. & A. II. X. Co.
members for their previous expenses
of survey, organization, etc, and to pay
back to citizens along the line the sums
they had contributed for preliminary
tect the people, and when the bonds
were voted, il was stipulated that should
the road not be completed within two
years, they should be returned to the
towns and precincts voting them.
Having thus fully protected the peo-
pie along the line, and with the agree
ment of the Construction Company to
complete the road within two years, the
St. G. NJ. Il A. X. r. directors transferr-
ed their stock over to said corporation,
firmly believing that the project which
they had so long and faithfully striven
to accomplish, would thus be consum-
mated.
| We'll. owing to the financial stringency
or panic which overlook the country at
| that time, the Construction Co. failed to
carry ont its agreement as to the build
ing of the road, the bonus bonds were
all returned to the towns voting them,
and the people thereof were not Oat one
cent Those who had contributed for
Surveys, as above mentioned, were re-
imbursed.
AS the matter stands to-day, there is
not person along the entire line who
lost one farthing by the project, and all
this talk of "swindling the people," and
"hoodwinking and deceiving innocent
men, and 'gobbling up spoils" Is Van
| Leuven- Donnelly bosh-nothing more
! There is not particle of evidence to
show that the directors of the st. G. NJ.
K 4. X. X. were not as much surprised
as the people at the failure To build the
road.
Coming down to business PROPOSE
ton, who will be fool enough to say the
owners of stock in the st. c., NJ. *. A.
| X. X. Co. had not rs much right to sell
corporation in the country? Not even
the two dromios-Donnelly and Van
Leuven-will dispute this proposition.
But, oh, they declare, it was bad faith
| to sell out Ifthe directors did dispose
of their shares kROpiRg it would defeat
| the road building il Wds bad faith, moth
| ing more. There is no evidence that
they possessed such knowledge, and all
assertions that they did is mere opinion,
with nothing tangible to base it upon
The amount which il is alleged they
were paid is SO small as to prove that
they only received compensation for
their time and expenses, which they
were certainly entitled to.
We understand that the old directors
notified the new company some time
ago, that, unless they carried out their
! agreement and built the road, they (the
old directors) should demand the re-
turn of tho charter and would return all
moneys paid them for the expenses
heretofore mentioned. Now, as to the
present status of the road, we can state
upon what we regard as reliable inform
alton that the line is in a fair way to be
built very soon. A proposition of par
ties controlling the charter of the st.
Cloud, Mankato d Austin is now pend
ing by which it is proposed to build that
part of the line between Mankato and
Hutchinson for Il much less bonus than
was formerly voted. If accepted, this
portion will be built at once. Twenty
miles of the road southwest from st.
Cloud have been constructed and the
track laid, and there is good prospect
that it will be extended on via Litch-
field to Hutchinson at an early date.
The st. Cloud, Mankato & Austin Rail-
road spectre is certainly one of the great
est bugbears of modern Minnesota poll
tics.
JNuN n WISE AND THE GOIJRT