Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1854-01-11
RAILpoaDs-THE1n NECESSITY AS A MEANS OF
WEALTH

IN The present State OF Railroad progress
it would appear sapererogatory to attempt
demonstration of The necessity Of the "iror
road politically, commercially and social
"; or show that facility of intercommunica
tiun increases communication; creates busI
ness, begets socialty, tends to the dissemi'
nation Of enlightened views, and by uniting
all these advantages, promotes the growth
wealth and prosperity Of the country.
| 1t is a self.evident, proposition that acces.
sibiIity promotes population. The history
of our country is. an enduring exemplllica'
ton OF this fact. AS facilities of intercourse
increased, the area of our settlements ex.
tended, until the entire continent has been
embraced within our, borders. Cities and
towns have sprung mp in the midst OF the
wilderness, and the wilds have been made to
blossom like the rose and if cahals, rivers
aud plank aud Macadamized 'roads-zthe
restricted means Of intercommunication,c cn.
loved before the introduction Of railroads
have suf1iced to- render this country SO pros.
perons, what maywe not anticipate when
the vast undertakings now projected shall
have been completed 9--when the auriferous
shores of the P:tcifc shall be connected with
the rocky barriers ef the Atlantic by iron
bands, and the treasures of the East and
the island of the seas shall be transported
thereupon, to find a ready market among
the dwel'ers at the West
That railroads, will hereafter be the means
of INSTRUMENTATION is equally evident.
They are the best aud cheapest means lor
promoting accessibility; they can be built
wherever the people will it; and by their
means time and Distance can almost be an
initiated. The experience. upon the few
completed railroads has demonstrated their
utility and fitness for the purpose for which
they were designed. And the completion
Fat these few roads.has made the building o
Others compulsory,for those sections lacking
in such facilities, must consent to sit suplne,
" down, and witness the rapid development
in wealth aud prosperity Of such sections as
keep up with the progress of the age.
Wherever railroads have been built in this
country, the inevitable consequence has
been to enhance the value Of propertyin the
ncighborhood. Depots have been established
along the lines for the reception and ship
ment of freight; and from these simple
depots, Aourishing ntowns' have grown up
magic.like, and anomalous as it may appear,
hut in few instances producing any diver
sion of trade from one place to another,
seeming rather to create of themselves bust
ness for ncmscIves-tuus,- by nfr1lI1los OF
communication adding to population, and
by population adding to the wealth and pros
pcri,y OF the country.
Not unircqucnt!y does it occur that these
depots are established in mines heretofore
unavailable, for the want of means oil trans
portalion, as is the case in many instances
within our knowledge. So soon as the roads
are completed, and these mines are brought
within the reach of market, town atonce
springs up, and the heretofore waste lands
become not only sources of wealth to
few, perhaps, but Of competence to many.
Aud when these roads are opened through
an agricultural country, nflording means OF
ready and cheap transportation to market
the farmer at once becomes independent
He is not compelled 10 haul his produce
through almost impossible mud-holes sloughs
and ponds, to market, where he is con-
strained to dispose of it at unrcmuneratne
rates, rather than haul it home again; he
can quietly wait until it is called for at his
own door, or until he learns from the paper:
that it is to his advantage to ship to dis
tant market. Few persons are aware OF the
difference in the cost of transportation be
tween the ordinary wagon and the railroad
In one of our exchanges some time since
we found the following table, in which il
given the comparative value Of ton o
wheat and one of corn, at given distance!
from market, rs affected by the cost o
transportation by the railroad, and over th'
ordinary road: