The Portland daily press., 1888-08-01

lions the city will never realize a cent from
It's investment. Furthermore. the danger is
ever present while the present arrangement
continues that the city interest will dwindle
away by failure of the road to earn sufficient
TO pay its fixed charges and keep the road
bed and track In safe condition, or be swept
away suddenly by some costly disaster. To
keep 1t and run this risk is alternative to
leasing the road to the Maine Central.
But 1t is urged by the directors to the lease
that we ought to take more time to consider
the matter, that we ought not to act hastily,
that by waiting we may get better offer.
A correspondent of the PRESS yesterday
urged this point, Now this road has practi-
eally been in the market for years. Some
years ago the Canadian Pacific directors
came down here and inspected it. We wait
ed in hope of getting an offer from them,
But we got none; on the other hand the
Dominion Parliament passed an act making
It impossible for that road to ever purchase
or lease the Ogdensburg Two years ago
the Maine Central made an offer for the road.
1t was urged then that we had better wait
and see If we could not get better offer
we rejected the offer and waited. With
what result9 With the result of getting
another offer from. this road-a poorer one
Than the frst-and no offer from any other
source whatever. There has been plenty of
time for everybody who wanted this road to
make an offer for it, but no person and no
corporation except the Maine Central rail-
road has made such an offer or given the
slightest intimation thai any such offer
would be made in the future. 1t is manifest
ly absurd to delay action on this offer with
the expectation of getting one from any other
source. Then the only other ground for de-
lay is that the offer and its conditions are not
thoroughly understood, for If they are under
stood then the people of Portland are just as
well prepared to vote ON them tomorrow as
they will be a week or a month or year
hence. Now are they thoroughly under
stood? The lease has been published in full
in the daily papers. The ablest lawyers in
the city have publicly discussed it, and their
remarks have been published in full in the
newspapers. Everybody who had word to
say in regard to the matter, or question to
ask, has had liberty to do so through the
columns Of the PRESS and no doubt of the
other papers also. Nobody has claimed,
however, that he did not understand the
lease or was not in possession Of sufficient
facts to enable him to make up his mind.
Our correspondent Of yesterday doesn't pre-
tend to be in doubt ON either of these points.
After question is thoroughly understood
there is no reason to delay action upon it.
The sooner 1t is settled, the better.
But to the objection to delay, that it will do
no good, is added in this case the objection
that 1t may do much harm. 1t may deprive
us OF the chance of taking advantage of
the present opportunity to dispose of the
road. The Maine Central has not agreed to
keep its offer open indefinitely. On the con-
trary tits understood to want an answer
without unnecessary delay. A policy of
delay is therefore liable to result in
the withdrawal of the Maine Central"
offer, and deprive the people of Portland of
the opportunity to dispose Of this road which,
we think, the great majority of citizens of
Portland believe should be embraced.
The objections to the terms of the lease
have all been answered and it is not neces-
sary to 60 over them. Our correspondent of
yesterday was grossly in error, however,
when he assumed that the sum of moroy the
city was guaranteed for the road was a
mere bagatelle." The original loan of the
city to the Portland & Ogdensburg road was
Sl,35O.0O0. $4,000 year is almost four per
cent. on this sum, and II the effect of this
lease is to made the stock of the road worth
$50 share. as it probably will be, the city
by disposing of its stock can recover nearly
the principal of its original investment.
This is much more than mere bagatelle"