The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1915-10-15
A Railway, Yes But No Tramway


their line westward from Winner.
that steps will also be taken TO have
the right.of-way land revert back TO
the original owners. In consequence.
last week Brother Shevelin. i'm an eX-
| tended article advocated the building
Of plank tramway out into this
| raiIroadlesS territory, on which auto
trucks and auto pG GsSenger ears could
make better time. He estimates that
such a tramway could be built for a
bout $1,000 per mile. Now all this
news, f TRUE. is rather dishearten
ing TO the people out this way,-but
it may not be true. Let us hope not.
However. we doubt wheather the
Northwestern people will be in a po-
Sition to build this extension for
year or two, and perhaps longer. The
fact is that the railroads i'm these Tn
tied States are i'm rather hard circum-
stances i'm this year 1915. According
to a table recently published in the
Railway Age Gazette, it shows that
there are a total Of eighty-two rail
roads i'm the hands of receivers in the
United States at this time. with a
total mileage OF Al 1888 and combined
capitalization Of $2,264, 10000 This
capitalization exceeds the highest
figure in the history Of the country
with the single exception of the tariff
panic year of 1894, when the total
capitalization was little less than
half billion more than i'm 1915. To
Offset this, however, the mileage un-
der receivership in 1894 was LILO
miles less twenty-one years ago. The
st. Louis Globe-Democrat pertinent
~ remarks. the roads in 1894 were
confronted chiefly by industrial con-
ditions brought about by free trade
legislation. Today they are confront
ed with three-fold menace-the
same free trade legislation, the Euro
pean war with its paralyzing effects
upon business not directly connected
with munitions and other war sup
plies, and third-the greatest of all
the unrelenting hostility of demagOg
ic legislation, which has pursued all
big business for the past decade.
The fact is that under conditions
as they exist at this time these rail
roads that have been able to keep
their heads above water and avoid re-
ceiverships will have all they can do
to meet their interest payments on
outstanding obligations, make neces-
sary repairs and meet operating eX-
penses, without giving any thought
to further extensions. So the hope of
the Northwestern making any extern
sionS at this time or within the next
year or SO is not extremely rosy, as
we view it.
However the fact remains that one
of the great needs Of this, one of the
most fertile sections Of the great
state of South Dakota is cheaper and
better transportation facilities, and
we will not develop. grow and prosper
until we get them. 1t is almost
crime to have in this county alone,
something like 100000 tons of the
best hay in the world 60 to waste,
simply because we have no way of
marketing it, to have other sources of
wealth lay dormant here for the same
reason, and this condition cannot con-
tinue forever, but we do not think
that a tramway such as suggested by
the Winner Journal would solve our
problem. In the first place the cost
of construction, we believe would be
considerably greater than l,0O0 per
mile. and after we had it it would
not to our mind, reduce the overland
freight tariff very materially. It
would be but very, very little better
than our present service.
We have unbounded faith i'm the
crest Rosebud country and its people
and in its future greatness. We be-
llcNc ufldU NCllcIbt COiuJl 10 ROlHR W
have railroad i'm the near future,
and if it develops that the North
western railroad either cannot or will
not build their road out here to pro-
vide us with this much-needed neces-
sity, we believe that the farmers, the
homesteaders, the landowners, stock
men, merchants and business men
will get together, and in some way
provide the necessary funds to build
railroad to meet the needs of the
times. A country that has such ma
tive grasses as we have here, that can
grow such corn, potatoes, wheat and
oats and vegetables OF all kinds as we
can here, that can produce such
cattle. horses and hogs as we can
here. where the poultry industry can
be made To pay big dividends with
very little labor. we cannot believe
that it can long be kept i'm the back
ground simply for the lack of quick
and cheap transportation facilities u,