THE FARMER'S WAR AGAINST MONOPOLIES. 199 



Many of them are built through sections of country 

 which cannot yet support them, and which will be un< 

 able to do so for many years to come; and others are 

 located in regions where in strict truth they are not 

 wanted. These roads must of necessity languish for a 

 considerable period, if, indeed, they are ever profitable ; 

 and yet they constitute a majority of the roads now 

 being built. 



The reader will then ask why are such roads, to 

 which the term " wild cat " has been popularly, and not 

 inaptly, applied, ever entered upon ? The reason will 

 be apparent when we have investigated the matter. 



In order that the originators of a railroad scheme 

 may make money out of it, it is not necessary that 

 there shall be a real demand for the road by the com- 

 munity in which it is to be located. That is a consid- 

 eration that does not enter into the scheme. 



A number of shrewd men, with an ample supply of 

 " brass," and very little money often, combine for the 

 purpose of constructing a road from a certain point in 

 Missouri, let us say, to a certain point in Kansas. 

 Their object is purely and simply to make money. 

 The country through which the road is to be located is 

 new and unsettled. There is no trade there to make 

 the road profitable when constructed, and it is evident 

 that many years must elapse before it will possess a 

 population large enough, or business interests sufficient, 

 to enable the road to do a paying business. These 

 .facts are well known to the originators of the road, but 

 they are of no consequence. They are looking to im- 

 mediate and not to ultimate profits. 



The first step after locating the road is to obtain the 

 necessary charters and a share of the public land. We 



