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vol. IV.
I COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION
WHICH THE
Ope w of Muscle Shoals
Will Bring About for the People of Georgia
and the Southeast The Western & At
lantic Kailroad one of the Chief Benefic
iaries.
Atlanta, Ga., June 12, 1889.
Publisher Kennesaw Gazette :
Dear Sir: —In the Atlanta Consti
titution of June 9th was an interview
with me on the subject of the opening
of the Tennessee River to navigation
by the removal of the obstructions at
what are known as Muscle Shoals in
that river, and the effect which this
event would have upon the Western
& Atlantic Railroad in particular and
upon the state of Georgia, and, to some
extent, of South Carolina, Florida
and Alabama in general. The views
I advanced were too extended for
a regular newspaper article; hence,
while the Constitution quoted my exact
language as far as it went, (except in
a few stray instances herein corrected),
it omitted several points which were
necessary to make the whole subject
clear, and I therefore will give you
the article in full for the Kennesaw
Gazette.
After mature deliberation in this
same connection, I have no objection to
letting the public have my sentiments
relative to the State road and its future
relationships to the people of Georgia
and to the other transportation com
panies as a factor in rate making and
in securing competition for the people
of Georgia and the southeast.
The coming situation, as I shall
attempt to describe it, is not the result
of my manipulations; in fact I have
had nothing to do with bringing it
about, but the government of the
United States is responsible for it, and
I am simply portraying what it seems
to me must necessarily come to pass
as the logical result of recognized
active causes, regardless of whether
they are according to my wishes or not.
COMPETITION TO THE W. & A. R. R.
It goes without saying that the
Western & Atlantic Railroad has had
its day as being a line which enjoyed
a monopoly of the business from the
west into this section. Not only has
the state allowed the East Tennessee,
Virginia <& Georgia Railway to be
built parallel to and only a few miles
from it between Chattanooga and
Atlanta, —thus taking off a large
a *»ount of its through business, and
A tixiTYiorons dara-devil—the very rxicuxi to su.lt my purpose. Bulwkh.
OTJR. "COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION" NUMBER.
111 -r 1 — 1 1
Ir
POWER OF THE IMAGINATION.
The above represents the young man on the other road who looked on the map at the
W. &A. and saw that it was so small that he concluded he would clean it up. Accord
ingly he went in and the usual result ensued. The next night after the ass air, while he
was thinking it over, he got so terror struck that the cold chills began running down his
back and even benumbing his fingers, and he started in search of a fire to warm himself.
He saw a candle on the table, and remarked, “The W. &A. looked small; but it’s the
biggest thing I ever heard of; so that looks like a candle but I believe it’s really an iron
furnace • I’ll go and warm by it; but I’ll be careful and not get too close to it, or it’ll
scorch me clean through, I know when I’ve had enough.”
curtailing the trade of its local towns
with all the region west of the road,
which they formerly supplied, —but
the Georgia Pacific Railway from
Birmingham in connection with other
lines at that point and at points west
of Birmingham, now controls a large
amount of business into this territory
which under the former conditions
would have come via the Western &
Atlantic ; furthermore, the opening of
what is known as the Paint Rock route
from Tennessee via Asheville, N. C.,
to Spartanburg, S. C., has diverted a
large amount of western business for
that section, which would otherwise
have come via the Western & Atlantic.
So the building of the Marietta &
North Georgia Railway has helped the
East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia
Railway to hurt the local stations of
the State road between Marietta and
Dalton. Freight from Atlanta to
Jasper, for instance, formerly went to
Adairsville to be drayed to Jasper;
freight for Ellijay went to Calhoun or
Dalton, thus giving the Western &
Atlantic a long local, and letting those
towns get the benefit of the wagon
trade, whereas the road now gets only
a short local to Marietta, and its upper
stations lose the wagon trade. After
the same manner freight went to
Marietta for Powder Springs, and to
Acworth or Cartersville for Dallas,
but now it goes to Powder Springs and
Dallas direct by rail over the East
Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Rail
way ; and the merchants from neither
of these two points come to a Western
ATLANTA, CA., JULY I, 1889.
& Atlantic station to buy their supplies.
I do not here argue that these two
roads should not have been built, but
I simply introduce these instances to
show how the building of them has
hurt the local towns on the State road
in a two-fold sense; for Dallas, for
instance, not only gets her freight for
her own use direct, but she also reaches
out into the territory east of her and
competes with Acworth and Carters
ville in supplying it.
So I might instance other examples
of lines built since the road was leased,
which have been taken from the state’s
own road business which fifteen years
ago came over it to Alabama, Florida
and Georgia points; (notably among
these being the Louisville & Nashville
line from Decatur, Ala., to Mont
gomery, which at one swoop took off
all the business which the Western &
Atlantic up to that time had handled
from the west to Alabama points and
to Columbus, Ga., and divided that
to Macon, south Georgia and Florida
points, the revenue on all of which
amounted to tens of thousands of
dollars per annum) but while the
road no longer has a monopoly of
business from the west into Georgia,
the development of the country has
been so very great that its revenue on
business handled by it has been little,
if at all, less than was the case years
ago; in fact, the tonnage of the road
has very largely increased over what
it was during the first six or eight
years of the present lease, and, but for
the fact that competition and the
Railroad Commission of Georgia have
reduced the rates to, in many cases,
forty or fifty per cent below what
they formerly were, the road would be
making at present a revenue far in
advance of what the lessees received
during the first few years after it was
put into their hands by the state.
reducing the rates.
As to the reduction of rates, I am of
the opinion that reasonably low rates
which allow a fair margin of profit,
tend to so develop the manufacturing
as well as other resources of the coun
try that the railroads in the long run
really net an advantage, as the increase
in population brings increase in travel
and an increase in all the supplies
which are necessary to maintain life
and make it comfortable.
There is frequently a nice point for
debate, however, as to whether rates
are too high to allow citizens who
have investments in manufacturing or
other interests to prosper, or whether
they have been reduced to figures
which are so low as to be unjust to
those who have their money in rail
road stocks. It is unnecessary to remark
upon the fact that the latter, like the
former, are entitled to make a fair
percent on their investments.
CALL FOR CAREFUL DELIBERATION.
The view which has been advanced
that the recent arrangements looking
to the consolidation of nearly all the
railroads in Georgia under practically
one ownership emphasize, therefore,
the advisability of the state’s being
very careful in her disposition of the
road after the expiration of the present
lease, is one which, I think, is entitled
to much deliberation by the people.
As 1 have stated to several friends,
I have had some hesitation in putting
my thoughts on paper for the public
for fear that they may be misconstrued;
but ina c much as it has, for a long time,
been my intention not to be connected
with the Western & Atlantic Railroad
after the expiration of the present
lease as owner or lessee, I consider that
I have as much right as any other
citizen of the state to give my views
about the road, if they should be of
any value to my fellow-citizens.
I have been in the service of the
Western & Atlantic Railroad company
since January 2d, 1877, and have for
the last half dozen years particularly
been called upon by virtue of my posi
tion Io make a very careful study of
everything pertaining to the business
of the road, the resources of the country
tributary to it, its connections and its
ability, if properly managed, to control
NO. 13.