Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 81, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 April 1915 — KNOCKS SUBSIDY IN MARION TOWNSHIP [ARTICLE]

KNOCKS SUBSIDY IN MARION TOWNSHIP

Law Holds That Election Can Not Be Held Within Two Years After Other Subsidy Was Voted. .

There will be no subsidy election in Marion township for the Lafayette & Northwestern Railroad Co., based upon the petition- filed with the county auditor. Attorney Moses Leopold appeared before the county commissioners* Monday, entering an appearance on behalf of several taxpayers who oppose the voting of the subsidy, and showed legal reasons why an election can not be held at this time. Attorney Parkinson, who with Attorney Dunlap, has been looking after the interests of O. L. Brown, the promoter, called Mr. BrOwn by long distance and informed him of the action and Mr. Brown came to Rensselaer this Tuesday morning. He does not care to have a subsidy voted that can not be collected and does not want to jeopardize his promotion plans by any irregularities and he stated while here that nothing would be done to try to force an election. If the subsidy voted something more than a year ago in behalf of the RobertsZimmerman road is still available to that road whenever they conform to the building requirements it unquestionably makes the holding of another subsidy election illegal and that is all there is to it. The old law passed in 1869 provided that the subsidy was only avaialble for one year after the levy was made and that the levy must be made the June following the holding of the election. This law was later repealed and holds the subsidy availabel for five years, after which time it may be annulled by the action of the county commissioners when petitioned by 25 freeholders. Mr. Brown had proceeded on the theory that the Roberts-Zimmerman people had withdrawn from the field, ..which they apparently have done, but no action has been taken to annul the subsidy voted in their behalf and if they should undertake the construction of the road and fulfill the legal requirements at any time within five years, then the tax could be collected. Should an election be held on the petition just filed it would doubtless be illegal and the tax uncollectable and therefore there would be no object in holding it. There is, however, one possibility, and that is that there were irregularities in the’proceedings of the last subsidy election that will give the commissioners power.to annul the election. Then an election in support of the Lafayette & Northwestern coulcj legally be held. The action of Attorney Leopold, Mr. Brown states, meets his enthusiastic approval, as they do not care to have ari election held and then the subsidy lost because the proceedings were not legal. The commissioners ordered an election in Newton township on May 7th, as petitioned for by resident freeholders of that township. In White county Monday the commissioners set May, 11th as the date for holding subsidy elections in Princeton, West Point and Round Grove townships. The elections in Beaver and Jackson townships in Newton county will be held April 24. Mr. Brown said to The Republican that he wished to correct one false statement made in The Jasper County Democrat. He states that he never said on any occasion that he or the company he represents would not seed the aid of subsidies for his road. He. stated emphatically that he had never said to any person that he would not seek this assistance. He knew that he had been quoted as so saying, but that he had not said so himself nor authorized any other person to do so. Mr. Brown said that while there is a beautiful country over the route from Lafayette to Kankakee 'through Rensselaer and that it offers a splendid line for a railroad, the population along the route is not so large as it should be to justify the construction of the road unless assistance was secured either by tax aid or the sale of stock. He says there is no doubt that the road can be financed and built if the subsidies are voted.' Whether the failure to procure an election ip this township will have important effect we can not say, but Mr. Brown expressed himself as confident that some step could be taken ’ to have an election called later, evidently basing his thought on the belief that the subsidy voted for the Roberts-Zimmerman road was not according to law.