Morris tribune., 1922-07-07

without persuasive reasons in their
support. But there were at the
time special reasons then deemed
sufficient to justify the move and it
went through. The subject was
pretty thoroughly discussed trough
out the county in public meetings
and before election day came about
the people were fully conversant
with the situation and the reasons
for and against the bond issue.
There were two prominent items
of alleged benefit to the county which
no doubt carried the election, namely
l, that the new road would give this
part of the state direct communica-
ton with the waterway at Duluth,
enabling shippers to avoid the extra
tax in the form of freight charges
for the transportation of farm pro-
ducts to Duluth by way of st. Paul
or Minneapolis; and 2, that the pro-
posed road would give convenient
access to the fuel supply furnished by
the heavy timber east of Sank Cen
ter.
Both reasons had merit, and the
new road amply compensated the
people for the bonus given to the
railroad company. So that if bonus
is proper in any such case q am per-
sonaIly opposed to them) there was
no serious mistake in this instance.
The new road furnished an outlet to
Duluth, thus making the grain mar
ket at least $50 miles shorter than
via Minneapolis, resulting in a cor
responding saving to shippers, a
necessary benefit to the producers.
The matter of fuel was an impor-
! tant matter in this section of the
state at that time. Cord wood was
the principal item in use, though
soft coal had to some extent been
found available for small heating
| stoves. 1t was not generally used,
and hard coal, now universally found
both in town and on the farm, was
not in use at all. The wood supply
after the coming of the St. Paul G Pa
cif1c Road was from the extensive
timber belt extending from Darwin
in Meeker county to Long Lake in
Hennepin county. But the supply
there was rapidly giving out, and the
limited quantity brought in was
selling at from 81 to SO per cord
for Indifferent varieties; previous
prices ranging from 81 to $3.50 per
cord for the best quality of hard
maple. For number of years st.
Paul and Minneapolis drew their fuel
from that direction, the railroad COM
pany used it in their locomotives, and
annually consumed enormous guam
titles; every town along the road as
far as Breckenridge and all the
prairie settlers west of the woods de-
pended on that source for fuel, and
train load after train load passed
over the road at all seasons of the
year by trains devoted exclusively to
that class Of traffic. The supply was
not inexhaustible and was doomed
soon to disappear entirely. Many
farmers in the northern and eastern
part of the county had found it nee
essary, at least a matter of economy
to obtain their fuel from the timber
country around Holmes City in
DOuS1dS county. A numD6r OF Ln6m
Joined in the purchase of standing
timber there, cutting and carting it
across the country in the winter sea-
son. In view of that situation of the
fuel question, for which no other re-
lief was then in sight, it was be-
lieved that a railroad into that part
of the state, where the timber was
heavy and fuel plentiful, would re-
lieve the burdens incident to the
growing scarcity from the other
direction, and the argument was
used in the canvass with persuasive
effect. That the point was not with
out merit was demonstrated when the
road was constructed for thereafter
and until both hard and soft coal
came into general use, the wood sup
ply was abundant, and the price per
cord fell, back to substantially that of
the earlier days.
R. C. Moore, of the firm of Kenner
& Moore, dealers in agricultural i'm
plements at Morris, and also bankers,
was most actively engaged in sup
porting the new railroad and the is