Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1891-01-14

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front rank Of The stat~s1s ,ss Uain
Whist il moss nssd<d l. si,s ds,snams,,
AZ de uadeveloped portions Of tha ~.
Look At tn ysst sections Of en. s,.,.
thickly covered With sp-scs .ad ,cpl.,
which gsoss about As sspi.ly a. IL cas- 5.
cut, ine5hsustible in il supply. Nov
these tso wsoda car be ground into puIr
by our natural sstsr po~s. q !
much less cost Per pound than !
pound Of wheat can be raised, Az
DE rip will hing shs ssnse prics /.
the markets - the sofid per pound Tia,
he wheat viii cSnmsnd. This ruIr
busisess il vet in its infancy. The demand.
sof ifs use are Multiplying every year ~
Maine and New Hampshire mus: becoms
the great pufp producing section Of tbs
world. The spruce Of the West IL not :,
aood for this purpose - the spruce Of New
England. Maine has In this matter Of pain
untold wealth If IL can only be developed
How can We take advantage Of this sre.,
undevsloped industry lying right in our Ian
Only BY the building Of railroads % tia,
this spruce AID this poplar can be turned
into pulp and senf 10 the markets through.
out the country. Nov. IL this sisustion Of
assirs IL taken advantage Of, who 5eYive,
the benefit viii it not add 70 the syovtb
and the prosperity Of the whole STATE
Should indivituais take upon themselves
the whole burden when all are n
enjoy the benedtsi See what ha,
been done By our railroads. People
should remember that no railroad has been
built in Maine Of any importance unless i.
has had aid from some source other than
private individuals. The Portland and Ken
nebec, the Somerset, the old Maine Central,
which we term the back route, received aid
from the cities and towns They never
lost anything by it. and Afterwards when the
Maine Central bscame stroog IL has aided
other lines, feeders to its o~n line. Exeep.
for the aid which il gave TO the Shore line
the road never would have been built from
Bangor 10 Hancock Poirt II aided the
little road into Rartisnd; it aided the road
from Dexter 10 Dover; il has aided the
l.ttIe road from Phillips to Rsngsley. II Is
true tina. Portland has paid out large sumo
Of money for the Atlantic and Sc. Law
renee, for the Ogtensburg and for the Port
lard and Rochester it is true that Bangor
paid large sums Of money for the building
Of the PiscatAquls; Ii Ia true that towns
along the line of the Knox and Lincoln
have paid large sums OF money for the
building Of that road, but, Freaa ~ their
expenditures have been, We doabt IL Port
lard aud Bangor or Bath or Reckland or
any Of the towns along the Knox aud Lin
c3n would have these railroads wiped on.
and oblisersted by the payment back to
them Of all the money they have expended
Take the great line Of the European aud
North American stretching from Bangor
away across the State to the Provinces.
The State aided that road Would any man
have that road destroyed and the aid returned
to the State? Ha, not the building of all
these roads de eloped the cities and towns
and added to the wealth Of the Statsf Ard
II 80, have not the entire people directly
received the benefit?
Take this little road from Phillips to
Rsngeley running twenty eight miles Into
the forests of that section OF the State
spafsely populated. What is it going 70 do
for northern Franklin Already nearly at
the terminus Of this road have capitalists
erected An immense saw mill and purchased
township Of iaDd--erec,ed mill with a
capacity TO saw ~ 900 900 feet Of lumber
per year.
This little road winding its way through
the beautiful vslley Of franklin around the
base Of old Sa3dlebaek Is sure to devel-
op that section OF the State and add TO its
population and its natural wealth.
Private individuals did not feel willing
to take the entire risk Of the enterprise
but by receiving aid from the Maine Cen
trail road they have been able 10 furnish
the great bulk needed to build ard equip il
and it will now be found paying invest
ment
am perfectly well aware that the de-
mand Of the day is economy. / believe ia
It. | am opposed to all extrsvsgauce, bu.
parsifsony is not economy. | would not
have the State buy stock in railroads 1t
builds AZ so many towns have done, but
would have ii, by careful restriction. aid In
A small way; aid the building of import
ant lines into undeyeoped sec
tons of the State. We can
never become grea. State in population
and In wealth until we take advantage of
the resources at our hand. Means of trans.
portstion Is necessary In order that the far
mer may transport his hay and all bis pro-
duets to market. and in order that we may
take the woods of our forests. both the soft
wood and the hard wood. turn them into
articles and bring them out
in the markets Of the world.
We are practically building no railroads
in Maine. A few miles wear amount to
nothing If Maine could il the mex. ten
years add one hundred miles a yesr TO its
railroad mileage. the census of 1900 would
tell very different story about the old
Drigo State.
How much of burden would it be
II the State should loan its credit at the
rate of $4,000 per mile to the 100 miles
of railroad building in the State
per year, even if it had to pay for the first
few wears the interest on the bonds TO which
it loaned its credit. Sixteen thousand
dollars year would not be sum
that would be regarded extravasant.
Ii is very different thing for the
State to loan its credit for limited amount
than it is to build road. OF course the
matter must be guarded with great care,
and the credit only loaned TO those lines
that are built into those sections of the
State that are undeveloped. and tina. are
approved of by the Railroad Commissioners,
the Governor and Council or some other
Board established for the purpose. Ample
security must be taken so that the State in
the end would no. be called upon to pay n
dollar
Gov. Burleigh in his admirable message
last week 10 the Legislature put in very
forcible and concise way the great needs OF
Northern Maine for direct railway COM
The Governor says The
State is now fairly supplied with railroad
There is. nevertheless, a
field for further enterprise in this direction.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the
great fertile county eff Aroostook, whose
varied products are now forced to seek q
msrket over Canadian soil. A direct line
over Maine territory. = i1ording Aroostook q
convenient outlet to the great markets OF
the country, would give 5 mighty Impulse
to the development of the county and
materially increase the prosperity of the
whole State"
II |. we'll understood that 1t will be
impossible TO build road into the great
county of Aroostook unless the enterprise
receives aid Of some kind other than CAPT
tai which private individuals can furnish,
Should this aid be given by the county
alone or by the State, whea all citizens of
Maine will ehare the benefit that mus
Inevitably come from building direct line
from tina. great and grosiug northern por-
sion of the State?
This i. no new idea. Every crest trans
continental line has received aid and help
from the Government. Even with all the
scandal that was brought rpon the connt'y
by the building of the U0ion Pacific Rsil-
road we doubt il the people of this eonatry
regret that the grea. strong s'm OK me
Government helped build that great high
way uniting the Atlantic AID facihc
oceans. Canada has made itself 20 YER
full dominion. II has from first 10 last