Rensselaer Union, Volume 6, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1874 — Brilliant Prospects.—A Railroad for Only Twenty-five Millions. [ARTICLE]

Brilliant Prospects.—A Railroad for Only Twenty-five Millions.

As many enquiries are being constantly made, as to when work will bejum nvrneed on sh e railroad, w e wj« Stujft that the Chicago & South Atlantic Baih-ond Co. is bound by n written contract with the Directors of the Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago R. It. Co. to commence work in earnest upon this branch of tlie line against the first of July next. This contract is based upon au understanding that a certain attaint of local subsidies, to aid lhv» enterprise, shall be made good before that time in the several counties. Now as soon as them subsidies are raised (aud the amount asked is not unreasonable) or satisfactory assurance arc given that they will be raised, then will the company be ready to commence active opera tions. The company is ready whenever the people are ready, whether that time is thirty days or three months. The C. & S. A. Co. understand very well, if they should proceed at once to building the road, spending a considerable sum of money in its construction, without any other guaranties than simply pledges, that they would probably never receive anything more than what lias already been subscribed. The company have given and still give, the strongest assurances, that they will break ground just as soon as the counties have done their part. They have never proposed to go on and spend a large sum in work upon the road, before the aid pledged to them has teen legally * secured, and, we presume, no friend of the enterprise or rational person would expect such extreme liberality upon their part. All the counties have been called upon For their subscriptions, with the request that they be raised as soon as possible, in order that the company may be able to proceed with the work on or before the time agreed upon. Several of the counties, at the .March term of the Commissioners Court, took the ncceefsary steps to call elections for voting public subsidies, and we have encouraging reports from several quarters, Carrol county has raised nearly a quarter of a million dollars, and will make good a quarter of a million for the road. We can speak for White county* - that she will raise her full quota, in the time required. Our people are not very rich,but they have a good deal of faith, and will not permit a few trifling quibbles, to “euchre” them out of sterling advantages, such as this road can confer. Very few railroads in this country have been built without subsidies -©Fsome kind, suetr as land grants by the governmernt, State aid or local and private subscriptions, and it is not likely that any will be built for a long time to come on any other plan

“The Pennsylvania Railroad, one of our largest, and most prosperous enterprises, was undertaken as a means of increasing the trade of Philadelphia, and could not have been constructed without the aid furnished by that city in its corporate capacity. A railroad is now regarded as a necessary highway for every community, and its construction is to be secured, if it can not be otherwise, in the same manner as ordinary highways.”—Railroad Manual. The people in this isolated region of Indiana are the originators of scheme—the needy party who have for several years been trying to build a railroad, and looking abroad through these agents for capitalists to assist them with their money. They have never, we suppose, thought that a railroad*would drop down from heaven at their bidding, nor so foolish as to expect that capitalists would come and take all the burden and risk and build a road for their accommodation. We had no right to hope that these men of horded means, who knew but little about us, were taking such a deep interest in our special welfare, as to rush into a measure in this style. Whoever thinks so much have a very limited idea of'railroad building* and must think that capitals!? have no car@ what becomes of their money. On the contary let us reuemfcer, at this particular juncture, tb.at money commands a good price, j that it is an article of universal demand, and that, there are many places where it can be invested as safely and profitably as jp railroads. Then it already follows that there must be some inducement offered capitalists, before they will feel safe to put their mon;y hr railroads, and the inducement, along this line, must come from the counties, townships people. When a sufficient amount bus been guaranteed

to the company to cover all risks, to form n good flianojal basis-, then will their money be forthcoming, 'find they will “shovel dirt,” build bridges, lay track, «Wd furnish epuipments for ths r6ad. Let tis remember that we are the first and most interested party to the enterprise, and if we really want the road, if we are really in earnest, we must act in good faith, put our shoulders to the wheel, and thus declare that we mean business. The co-operators of the Chicago & South Atlantic Railroad Company, as official head, have as much capital, and will put as much of their private means into the enterprise as any other company’ has 'ever done in the prosecution of the grandest railroad enterprise in this country. But it does not follow that the corporators of the company should build the whole road themselves, for such a thing has. never yet been done, aud perhaps never will be. No person for instance Would suppose for a moment, that the corporators of the Kentucky branch, numbering some twenty-five persons, will build two hundred miles fhrough that State at a cost of $40,006 per mile. They are but the official head of ttife body of Stockholders, (public and private) that will constitute the Kentucky Company. They are the organizing power to carry into execution the interests of the act of the Legislature. The C. & S. A. R. R. Co, is an organization created for the purpose of superintending, managing and 4 building a great railroad from Chicago to the sea. They have no land grants from the general government to aid them, and expect none; but they expect and rely upon municipal and private subsidies, to be raised along the route, as a part of their capital that will be invested in the building of the road. This sum so far amounts to $0,000,000, perhaps a little more than one fourth of the entire cost of the road. This amount was pledged at the Chicago Con vention, and there is every reason to believe it will be raised. The corporators of the C. & S. A. Co., at the convention, also made an official statement of the amouut they w ould invest in the enterprise, which was satisfactory to that distinguished assembly, representing every State through which the road would run. But with all this capital it is not likely that the building of the road can be accomplished without incurring, as all other roads have done, a bonded debt. But it is clearly to the interest of the road, the benefit ot each Stockholder, and nlieaptransportation, that the funded ob ligation of the company should be as small as possible. If we can secure the amount pledged, the road can be built for cash and will have a financial basis that will insure the ready sale of our bonds, almost at par, in the eastern markets. Drexel & Co., of Philadelphia, the oldest banking house upon the continent are the financial agents of the C. & S. A. R. R. Co., and having a large banking house in Paris and in London, will have upon the basis we stated and their great European reputation, little difficulty In selling our bonds. If our bonds can be sold at par, the funded debt will be too small ever to embarass the road, or force it to sale in bankrupey.

There is a vast difference between selling a bond for 8300, or S4OO ; and one at par or for a SIOOO, but the debt created by the sale of oach bond would be exactly the | same. If a railroad company sells a bond at S4OO, it will incur an obI ligation to SIOOO, with gold bearing J interest at eight per ceut. Hence | it must be obvious to every person, | who is capable of thinking on the : subject, that the precedent condi- ; tions, on the part gs the comtnunij ties to be benefited, must „be icotiiplied with._JThe Company has j agreed to a modification of the plan for raising private subscriptions that will insure every stockholder from loss or risk, and as soon as | the plan is matured and books can be printed, they will be sent to the several counties. The President of the company has strongly urged the necessity of such a change, and feels confident that it would accomplish better results than the one offered last fall. —Monticello Herald. The following is a simple way of plating small at tides with silver The metal intended to be silvered 5 baving been well cleaned, is rubbed, by means of a smooth cork", with a mixture -o£ 1 oz. chloride of silver* 1 oz/coinmon salt, f oz. chalk and 3 oz. carbonate of potash, made with water into a creamy paste.