Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-09-05

cerned? BY the aid granted the road.
it has built up in this State system
Of railroad. which at the eno OF the
twenty years contract in 1911, VIII De
source of revenue forever 70 the
State to the extent OF at least Wv
900 90 to start with for in that year
this whole railroad system VIII corD-
mence paying in to the state treaSufe1
the full amount Of its legal tax.
But what has the State received ~
the meantime The valuation Of the
county of Aroostook in 1890, before
the projecting of this road, was $lO.-
600 900 In 1904 it was $2s.59o,33l.0 90.
an increase of $16.59O, S9l W, trace
able almost entirely to the building OF
this road. The mere Iact Una. II WAS
to be built ran the valuation UP more
than seven millions between 1890 and
1892.
But this is not all. The road is not
confined to Aroostook County Dut eN-
tends into Penobscot and Piscataqus:
In the same period the valuation II
Piscataquis county increased ABOUT
100000. and that OF Penob-
scot about 5000, 100000. making to-
tai increase in these three counties OF
$4,000, OOO.O A large portion Of
the increase in Penobscot and Piscata-
quis is directly traceable to the building
of this road.
The whole town of Millinocket has
grown up where. before this road was
built, the forest prmeval covered the
earth, and this is in Penobscot Coun-
ty. More than S15.000.0OO.OO expend-
ed upon the building of this road was
obtained from outside of the State,and
more than $4,000. 900 Of capital from
outside the State has been invested in
private enterprises which have grown
I'D upon the line of this new road Up
on all this great increase in valuation
the State has collected the State tax
through all these years and will go on
collecting In the future.
There is another thing worth not
ing. The increase in population in
| Aroostook County attributable to the
| building Of this road has been far be-
| yond that in any other portion of the
Stafa Had It not been for this in
crease the State in the last apportion-
mont would have lost one OF its rep
resentatives in Congress 1t is di-
| rectly as a result of the building of this
road that we now have four members
| in the House Of Representatives in
stead Of three
Someone may say that this road
would have been built any way; but il
he does, he little appreciates what it is
| to project and build a railroad. The
experience Of Maine in this direction
| has shown that as a rule the building
| Of roads results in loss to the original
stockholders. perhaps the second set
| OF stockholders, and that only a por-
ton Of the investment can be saved
| The Bangor & Aroostook Railroad
has been an exception to this rule.
It f. true, that up to the time that
| this road was projected and built, the
history Of railroading in Maine was
not such as to make It easy to obtain
| tho funds necessary for such work.
The building Of the Knox & Lin
line. Of the old Somerset road, by
stock subscribed by the towns through
which it ran. and later the building Of
the Washington County road, to say
have all shown the great hazard at
| tending such enterprises
The aid which the State granted to
the road in the way of exemption OF
taxes which was only foregoing the
possibility Of taxing a road which
might never exist without the aid.
seems little indeed for the whole State
to do In securing such great advan-
| tages for the country of Aroostook and
for the State as a whole.
County road. built later on, empha-
sizes the risk which the county Of
Aroostcok took in the building OF the
Bangor Aroostook road. The coun-
ty Of Washington contributed toward
the building Of the Washington Coun-
ty road. and the State extended the
same aid to them as to the Bangor &
Aroostook. but even with all this aid
the road was not sen-Sustaining and
the county of Washington was the
loser by the venture. so far as the di-
rect investment was concerned; but
does any one believe that the county
OF washington to-day would have the
Washington County Railroad removed
from its soil. If thereby it could be re-
1mbursed for what it contributed tow
ard its building?
The same business reasons present.
ed above apply with equal force to the
case OF the Somerset railroad whose
lin Is now in process Of construction
north to Moosehead Lake The State
has seen in this extension the means
or opening up the great north country
or the upper Kennebec. Astounding in
watr-powers and other natural re-
sources
This then is the business truth Of
the matter that the Democracy has
made an issue between parties in the
campaign: that they have set forth in
big type as an example of Republican
favor1tism and graft This charge is
an insult to the business sagacitv Of
the state; petty and despicable trick
to deceive the hasty Judgment of those
poorly informed in the matter in oucs-
non; such chicanery must injure its
1nsugators alone. This method Of at
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