The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1898-03-02
Railroad Bond Scheme.

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Mr.. Woodman appears to tire of argu
ment relative to the bond scheme, and be-
means the fact that the road from Law
ton to Paw Paw was stolen. Procrasti
nation is the thief of time, and the people
of Paw Paw have procrastinated until
hope is well nigh exhausted. In the
spring of 1870, went to New Buffalo as
Joint agent for the Michigan Central and
G. & w. NJ. Ry. At that time, the G. IL
w. NJ. Ry. was twenty-seve miles long,
a poorly constructed, poorly equipped,
IS. c." (some good or standard gauge)
road: what is it to-day? And what
would Paw Paw have been had she voted
sufficient aid to have induced Hon. A. III.
Morrison to push his road through here
and Allegan to Grand Rapids? st.
Joseph at that time was slow going,
and Benton Harbor mere hamlet. Their
growth has demonstrated what push and
aid to railroads will develop. In the five
years following, | saw the line extended
to Pentwater and Grand Rapids with
feeding lines, and to day it takes place
among the trunk lines Of our country.
Paw Paw policy then was the same as
YOU advocate now: "Got to come here
anyway"
How about the X. a. S. II. branch of
the Michigan CentralY Oh, they could
not reach South Haven by any other
route. They had got to come here any
way, without the aid or consent of any
nation on earth" | only wonder Mr..
Woodman has not advanced his scheme,
and | might join him in an effort to bond
the town for ten thousand dollars to be
used in compelling this n. G.. mo good
railroad to build equip and operate just
such a road and with such conveniences
as Mr.. Woodman might conceive, if pos
sible. But with all the mistakes of our
predecessors fresh in mind, | cannot see
any excuse for allowing this last oppor-
tunity to pass unheeded. The present
company has twenty seven miles of well
built, well equipped S. G. road from
Buchanan to Benton Harbor, and it is
only fair to presume that the road be
tween Hartford and Benton Harbor will
soon be built and connected with this,
and in time extensions will be added,
and Paw Paw no longer an n. g. town.
Now, Bro. Woodman, a word to you as
to assumed attorneyship, the isles of the
sea, and other matters irrelevant to
the question at hand. | dislike sar-
casm or irony, but if that is your
stock in trade use it for all it is worth,
and call to your aid the shades of the de
h.f ha
uments they built, have gone to decay
and are silent witnesses, truthfully testi-
fying that railroads DON'T have to come
here anyway, and no one has yet develop
ed sand enough to compel them. You
asked who built our fine school house.
| find by reference to my tax receipts
that in four years | paid total tax on a
sixty-fve acre farm of S201.73, and out of
that total S109.59 was school tax. Let
me ask you, Friend Woodman, who post
poned their coming to Paw Paw until
the school house debt was paid to avoid
high taxation? Who made the most
vigorous protest against the electric
finest service and best light in the
country, and whose voice has always been
raised against every appropriation offer
ed in our town meetings for the improve
ment of roads and bridges? / don't
wonder you ask who built the school
house; but any man who has seen over
half his tax 90 to school house building
can answer you, and no doubt all have
contributed their mite toward the erec-
tioL of seven churches And will ask
you what benefit they all are to Paw Paw
as revenue producers? How much do
they contribute to wage earners? Again
where are the furnaces, machine shops,
planning mills, tanneries and other in
dustries established by the half dozen
named departedY Alas, like their pro
jectors and builders, they too have de-
parted to the mistaken idea
that railroads HAVE TO COME HERE ANY.
WAY.
As to the railroad company running SO
many trains between Paw Paw and Law
ton, it has good cause and reason fol-
such action, and il you will apply your
above the average intelligence to inquiry
you no doubt can learn why. But you
should never lose sight of one fact you
produced in your effort, viz: the thou
sands of beautiful shade trees planted by
our enterprising ancestors, for they ar,
the only living and growing monuments
of their work that is left, and know yol
can see in their beauty the fact that il
early spring they will yield sufficien
sap for your beloved taffy" Stay b!
the naples, Friend Woodman, and you
have to come anyway" idea, and quies
cence is assured. JAY REYNOLDS.