The true Democrat., 1854-12-20
The Cairo and Fulton Railroad--Its
 Friends and it's Foes.


 The Cairo and Fulton Railroad--Its
 Friends and it's Foes.
 The last issue of the Gazette puts to flight the last doubt we entertained of the hostility that is going on against the Cairo and Fulton Railroad It cannot be questioned or denied that there is an organized and relentless oppo- siton-an opposition which began with the conception of the project, and has manifested itself by continued acts of hostility from then till now.
 In the last issue of the "Gazette" there is an article in favor of placing restrictions upon the grant of lands that must, particularly at this period of monetary distress result in the failure of the Cairo and Fulton railroad It's chief ar gument is, that the Memphis railroad company are willing to submit to any conditions, and why should not the Cairo and Fulton compa- ny? This fact, taken in connection with an article week or two since in that paper, against the Cairo and Fulton railroad and in favor of giving the lands to Memphis, from Memphis through to Fulton, plainly indicates the hostl- ity of the Memphis company to the Cairo and Fulton railroad. This hostility we have often heretofore denounced and it is now our duty to expose its new and last phase.
 Memphis demands the lands from the Mis- sssippi river to Little Rock, and is willing to take them under the most burdensome restric- tions. She demands of the Arkansas Legisla- ture alSo that the same restrictions be imposed upon the Cairo and Fulton railroad. This she does, because she knows the grant to the Cairo road will be forfeited under them, and that two years hence, the Memphis company can step forward, and without a rival, claim the grant, in continuation of her road from Little Rock to Fulton. This is now her object, and if suc- cessful, will cut off the entire northern portion of this State and renderthe grant of lands from Little Rock to Cairo utterly worthless
 We do not find this course pursued by the friends either of the Helena, Napoleon or Gaines Landing companies. Though each is contending for it's own particular project, they have all three determined that the main trunk the Cairo and Fulton railroad-shall be sus- Ct4HON' A1Oy HUN uPO14 It, lo u oNooulculN IS, the great thoroughfare of the State the basis upon which will be built system of internal improvement that will at no distant period, make Arkansas one of the wealthiest most prosperous and powerful States in the Union- But if, by the intrigues of the Memphis com pany, it is destroyed, and the lands given to Memphis to complete her projects in our limits, we will see built up in this State a powerful and wealthy corporation, whose whole influence and wealth will be wielded in opposition to every other work of internal improvement that does not proceed from and rebound to the ad- vantage of the city of Memphis. And we will find, too, that influence, backed with its wealth, will always master and crush the remaining in terests of the State. We had determined and have steadily per severed ill that determination, to take no part in the terminal struggle going on between the friends of the three points that have been pre- sented to the Legislature fer its adoption. Re- garding the Cairo and Fulton railroad, both on account of its location through the State and its connections North and South, as the great and leading work of the State, we have devot- ed our labors entirely to it. We had hoped that Memphis would confne her efforts to the securing of the eastern branch of tbe road, but we have been disappointed; she has commence ed a war upon the Cairo road, and sustained by papers in this city devoted to her interests, now forces us to speak out plainly in condemnation of her interference If her efforts are success ful the Cairo and Fulton grant of lands, by being misapplied, will be made a curse to the State instead of blessing, and we do not in tend, by our silence or apparent indifference, to subject ourself to the odium that must, in all time to come, follow and cling to those who have been instrumental in the destruction of the grant. If Memphis then wants the war, she can have it, and we can truly say:
 Lay on Macduff And damned be he that first cries, hold enou gh'