The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-31
TAYLOR is EXCITED.
Fears Two Cent Fare Bill May Kill
His Railroad Project.

w L. Taylor, president of the pro-
posed Council Grove railway line, is
excited today.
The cause is found in the following
kilograms:
w. L. Taylor, Topeka, Kan:
Cannot consider other Kansas rail-
road proposition if legislature passes
two cent fare or other arbitrary rail-
road laws. Wait.
LAMPRECHT BROS & co.
w. L. Taylor, Pres. T. & S. w, To-
pel1a, Kan:
Strong talk hero that Kansas will
pass two cent fare, if so it will be
hard to get any investors interested in
your new Kansas railway propositions,
answer. F. ]. CURNICK.
Mr.. Taylor says that no action of
the legislature will affect the Council
Grove line. which is already assured,
but that it may knock out the pro-
posed Burlington line by way of Au
burn.
In commenting upon this matter
Mr.. Taylor said: "I don't for the life
of me understand what the legislature
of Kansas means by advocating such
an unjust thing the two cent fare
bill. I feel confident that if any of
them ever had any experience in pro-
noting q new railroad and had spent
as much time as have in the past
year riding across the prairies and
through some townships of sixty-six
square miles where the average is less
than ten people to the square mile,
and these people twelve or fifteen
miles from tho nearest railroad they
would then understand why instead of
driving out railroad capital they
should dc everything they could to
entice people to invest money in new
Kansas railroad enterprises. I believe
that every man who is in favor of the
two cent fare bill is sincere, but they
are laboring under a misapprehension.
They have not thoroughly Investigated
the situation and just as sure as the
world if they pass any unjust or
arbitrary railroad legislation they will
stop any new railroad enterprises. /
don't moan that they will stop the
trunk lines from building branches,
etc, but they will stop new independ-
ent propositions. The large capitalists
will not invest their money where peo-
pie are against the enterprise, but the
thing that surprises me more than all
the rest is to know that our Robert
Stone, representative from Shawnee
county and at one time president of
the Topeka, Eskridge & Council Grove
Interurban Railway company, which
has just now been absorbed by our
railroad company. is the champion of
such an unjust bill 1t is the most alb
surd thing that I ever heard of. Here
we are a city of fifty thousand popula-
ton, one-fourth of US are directly en-
ployed by railroad companies and over
half of Us receive our bread and but
ter from railroad money. The Santa
Fe railroad company is building more
shops and bringing more men to To-
peka and with al of that he is our
owE representative who stood up in
the Commercial club less than n year
ago and said that he wanted to go
back to the legislature and said that
he would do all that he could to help
to make Topeka Greater Topeka /
am going to hunt him W this day and
have a talk with him, whether it will
do any good or not, don't know, but
it seems to me that it is time that the
legislatures were considering this mat
ter from a practical business stand
point. and not because there is a wave
of reform in the air and trying to fol-
low the example set by Iegisla lures in
some of the thickly populated states.
Here we are, Topeka just about to
get two new railroads independent
from any trunk line or any other rail-
road now in the state of Kansas and
to he built and equipped with outside
capital and the citizens of eight or ten
counties have worked hard to interest
people in building this line and Just as
we are about to realize our ambition
some one Jumps IN in our midst and
tries to get the legislature to pass an
arbitrary and unjust railroad law, and
just as sure as they pass this law they
are going to lose at least two of these
new railroad propositions. Where
they have two cent fares and other
arbitrary laws they will not come to a
state so thinly populated as Kansas
but will take UP propositions in some
of the eastern or more populated
states
Charged With Horse stealing.