The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-07-16
MILLIKEN INTERESTED
Railroad Attorney Was in At
tendance at Meeting.
Held in Secret in the Court
House.

Mcpherson is the first town in the
state to get up any real excitement
about the voting of bonds for the Ne
braska, Kansas and Gulf railway the
new line which proposes to build
north-and-south road through the heart
OF Kansas.
The promoters of the company have
had very good success in their BOND
propositions, up to the time that they
struck Mcpherson. There they ran IN
to the combined opposition of the SAM
Ia Fe. Rock Island, Union Pacific and
Missouri Pacific, it seems, or at least
a portion of these roads, and accord
ing to the Mcpherson papers, J. D. Mill
Mken, attorney for the Rock Island ana
Union Pacific roads, is leading the
fight on the bonds.
In telling of the situation, the Nc
Pherson Republican says:
sixteen men pledged against the
building of the north and south rail-
road met in the public court room or
the court house and held secret meet
ing against carrying the bonds
J. G.. Maxwell called the meeting TO
order and ]. d. Milliken was nominat-
ed chairman but refused to serve on
account of personal reasons. d. A.
Bradley was then chosen chairman
and Gus Beyers of GroVeland secre-
tary After assuring themselves thai
no spy was in the meeting, they be-
gan to lay plans for defeating the vot-
ing of bonds for the new railroad. II
was decided to begin an active cam
paign against signing the petitions and
later public meeting may be held for
pushing the work. They argued that
it was imperativ to prevent people
from signing the petition, because If
the requisite number of signers can
be secured the bonds are sure to be
carried
This meeting was gotten up by J.
u Milliken attorney for the Rock IS
land and Union Pacific roads, and it is
easily seen that it is scarcely in the in
terest of Mcpherson county. 1t is not
surprising that the attorney of two
competing railroads should get up such
a meeting and is only another evidence
of the fact that the new road will be
a good thing for the countryside why
fight 1t so? 1t is not likely that the peo-
pie of the county will be fooled by
such a move, called as it was and held
in secret in the public court room o..
the court house of the whole people,
but excluding citizens from the meet
ing who wanted to be there"
Following uD this item, the Republi-
can prints the following editorial in ia
vor of the proposed bond ISSUE:
That the taxes on the proposed Gulf
road win pay interest and bonds before
the bonds are due can easily be seen
thousand dollars at AZ per cent will be
S2.25O a year interest on bonds. The
new line viii have about the same mile
age in this county as the Santa Fe. Now
the Santa Fe is a branch line and pays
less taxes than if it were a main line.
But for safety of figuring let us assume
that il pays only as much taxes as the
Santa Fe. The Santa Fe today pays
81, 500 taxes in Mcpherson county every
year. Let US take this figure as the
taxes on the new road Every year the
new road would pay $3.50 more taxes IN
Mcpherson county than the interest on
the bonds. If this 81, $50 in excess of
interest be placed in a sinking fund.- it
will take only % years for the road to
pay its own bonds besides paying the
interest every years.
Now viewing it on the basis of a
main line the taxes in Mcpherson coun-
ty would be close to $4,000, leaving every
year $3.50 in excess of taxes. This
would only take thirteen and a third
years to pay the full face of the bonds
besides paying the interest every year.
After that the road would still con-
tinue to pay taxes of $4,000 a year in
this county where now it pays nothing.
Would that pay the county? Well, it
looks very much like foolishness or a
lack of patriotic spirit for anyone to say
that we can't afford to vote the bonds"