The Athens post. [volume] (Athens, Tenn.) 1848-1917, 1851-01-10
THE UNION BRANCH RAILROAD

what we considered q fraud recently al.
tempted 10 be PLAYED or upon The Eas'
Tennessee anu Georgia Ea;Iroad Company,
by cer'ain General Bishop, Jas. E,imond'
son, and others, as is alleged. Ia wiring
our articles on the subject, we employed
sucn language as we thought The merits Of
The case called Tor. and although portions
o.; i. NAV have been harsh, we were 90,
aware thai one word could be ronslru'
ed inlo siandcr, or that il was not al
deserved. Bul IA ,as il seems we were
m;s,aLen. ant! We have been guilty. Of ma
I,ciously assa,lng and wan,oni! slande'ns
a ce,tain Jas. Edmondson, Esq, OF Geor-
sa, and " hich islanders" have eIiced a
rather labo,ed and extended con,mun'ca-
lion from ,,at gentleman, in the last "D'l'
ion Times" We Enow but lille OF MI
l:dmon.Ison. fu',nes than that he claims 10
be the President Of ihaI most v.Ia'nous
humbun, the Unioo Branch Ha'lroad Co.,
and a FULL na.,ner OF Gen. Bision IN The
business. We nave heretofore placed me
matter in ,eTtsience 10 the difficulty ABOUT
the Road hettiore the public in Tvs true light,
and the address OF Mr.. t:dmonisOh does
not make j, necessary ,hat we should re-
itelale VIVA, we have said. Sill there are
some lhioes ia it which we must give
passing notice.
The address sels oul by stating that the
writer has been frequently assaiIed for his
connection with line "Union Branch Rail-
road Company" and lha, he is therefore
reluctantly compelled 10 appear be'ore The
public. Al The sane lime, he asser's that
he is confident The assaan's have not and
cannot injvre him ia the es.'nla,ion Of his
feiIow .ciIZens-,hat is, his reputation a, a
good and just man places hIn SO fac above
their reach Iiai he mas nothing 10 lear from
The railing arrows OF The s'orm rasiag be>
meath him. Tina, would, perhaps, have
been better said by some one else; and The
eyo'ism displayed there and in o,he. por>
lions of.he Maj s address. leads US 10 the
conclusion Thai vi, prominent cbaracter>
Isles ave "wnd aud vaaity." He nes,
says ,ha, the Gesile Of his sIande,ers is "to
lie noliced." We can speak Tor o"';eIi,
and beg leave 20 demu' from the Majors
conclusion. Whenever we de>iel lO ac-
quite no,oiety y. s'aadeIiAy our fellow
men, i, seems 10 US that we shall "ny our
hawk a, higher game ,''ao the members
OF the Ca,on Branch i:aihoad COMPANY.
The Major the saws, u. would no; have
noticed the slanJerous articles OF The
"A ,hens (renn.) Post" unu "Savahnah
Republican" onIy',a those articles nave
been copied 'nio o,her papers. Tha''s >
fact, Major; those "siande'ous articles
have had raiher IN extensive circulation,
hav,os t<ea copied ,.ss,t;-H t"*
Georgia paners Of any nole OF chaFat!er-
an additional evidence, sir, lha. me I'jori.
" OF ,he editors OF your own Slate, a> well
Of Others, are always ready 10 a'rav ihem-
.elses on ;he side Of right and justice.
The w,ief ne.i says, he has been cha'y-
I'd with smuggling his bill through line
Legislature. And here we are informed
hal he was member o. lhe last Georgia
legislature, 4 fact Of which We, ia common
With good many diners, were enti'eIy g.
'o,an,, and ia all probability should nave
lever found it out unless he, in h's anxiety
o mparl interesting historical information,
lad kindly consented 10 send II forth 10 the
world through the columns OF The "DaI'on
l'imes." lie next in,ima,es that 1t would
,e utterly impossible TO smngylc b'l
trough legislative body. II tine MHjof
believes this we ale afraid his experience
n legislation IS rather limited, and we are
sorry for it, for in all probability ii will never
De este nded, and he will 60 down TO the
grave in profound ignorance Of a fact which
avery observing man knows 10 he true. u
he charge ,ha, the Bill reviving The char
Ter Of The pretended Railroad Company 10
question was struggled through the Lesis-
|ature. is a Islander, il was based upon The
fact that members Of that Legislature de-
MED that such Bill had passed, and as.
serted, il true, they knew nothing about il.
That's our Information, from a reliable
source. The address next gives what The
writer alleges IS true statement oil The
whole proceedings in the Georgia Les'sIa-
,ure. But we are reluctantly compelled 10
wait Tor further advices before we can place
The utmost faith in the statements. We
DOM question Mr.. Edmondson's verocity.
He may be a truthful man or he may not
we have formed our opinion from the bust
mes 10 which he has recently been engaged.
Next we have what purporls to be briel
history Of the Hiwassee Railroad Compa-
nv, in which j, is stated that they have fire.
que u,Iy had their charter extended, and il
IS gravely limited that the Union Branch
Company had as much right to have their
extended as any other Company
Had lae Union Branch Company complied
with the acquisitions OF their original char
u y