The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1855-10-17

se ehS oe''fAo siiIiC, bul HC SoCS ON dHu
reaches New York in three days, purchases the
next two days small well selected stock ol
goods, and makes arrangements to order such
as he may need from time 10 time by telegraph
In three days more he is at home with his
goods and they are suited, to-day, to the mar
ket and season. He sells at small profit, and
his goods go in hurry, SO that he finds it ne
cessary to order by telegraph every ten days
Occasionally it has happened that his sales for
a day have been unusually heavy on certain
articles, SO that his stock of these have run
very short. Under these circumstances be has
ordered, as it were, this morning supply by
telegraph from New Orleans, and tomorrow
morning the goods have been on his counter.
His goods are always fresh. He pays no insu-
rance upon his goods in transit, and only upon
very small stock in store, for he employs a
small capital. He pays no interest, but gets
an advantage in the purchase of his goods
equal to large interest, because he purchases
on short time, Snd always meets his bills. He
has no remnants. no moth eaten goods, no old
goods, no damaged goods, no bad debts, for
he does short, qnick business, and debts don't
have time to get bad. 1t requires no calcula-
tlon-no figures are necessary to show that the
last named of these two men will be able, not
only TO compete successfully with his nelghbor
of large capital, but that he will be able abso-
lutelv to take all the business from him. And
here we may as well notice an objection to this
road which has been mentioned, that because
the river does get up once year, at the season,
too, in the winter, when men mostly want to
visit the city, and because the freight and pas
sage on it will be less than on the road. it will
continue to do so much of the business as to
make the stock in the road Improbable. Ii
the road possessed no other advantage than IS
afforded by its superior safety, it would GER
tainly take the passengers from steamboats,, but
this is thing that can't well be estimated in
dollars and cents 1thas, however, another ad-
vantage which may be SO estimated, it is that
of time
Suppose two men have business in New Or
leans thatrequires a day to transact. One goes
by the river, is three and a half going, as long
returning, and one day in the city makes eight
days he is from home. His passage is ten dol
lars each way. The other goes in the cars. His
passage is the same, but he pays for two meals
of vitcuals on the way, at four BITS each. He
does the same on his return. He is therefore
out two dollars more on the trip than the other.
But he goes in twenty hours and returns in
twenty hours, so he is gone from home two
days and sixteen hours, and is back home five
days and eight hours sooner than the other, and
has this length of time to earn the two dollars.
In this time he can make double the amount by
mending old shoes, or blacking new ones. A
delegate to the Railroad Convention was not
less than nine days on his way down the river
and eight days returning-paid S46 for his
passage down and up, and walked around the
Falls both ways. He was, therefore, fifteen
days longer travelling than he would have been
on the railroad Within the next fifteen days
after his return home he earned, by his own
labors, $4,000 This short sentence will serve
to show the value of time. ''It is money! And
this great truth was never sufficiently known
until practically worked out and daily illustra-
ted, exhibited and enforced in thousand diff
ferent ways, by the railroad, and the telegraph.
1t ought to be known to every man, but espe
cially should it be, impressed upon the mer-
chants mind-it deserves to be printed in let
ters of gold, and placed over his desk in his
counting room-if necessary he would do well
to initiate the example of Philip of Macedon,
and employ man whose sole business it should
be to wake him, every morning at the growing
of the cock, by shouting the great truth, aloud
at his door-"Time is money! This argument
applies equally to the freighting of goods, cot
ton or produce of any kind. Well then, says
one, the road will entirely supercede the busi-
ness on the river. Not so, it will increase it..
The Railroad along the Hudson river has in
and the road along the New York and Erie
Canal has rendered it necessary to enlarge the
capacity of the canal at an immense COST
But there is another class of men who have
a deeper and much more abiding interest in
the construction of this road than either of the
preceding. We allude to the poor While a
tardy and uncertain navigation, low water, and
high freights embarrass the business of the
merchant and diminish the profits Of the plan
ter, they deprive the poor mans children of
bread. Permit us, fellow Citizens mechanics,
laborers, overseers and farmers of small means
TO address a few words to you upon this sub
iect in terms of kindness. You have had to
pay. during the present season, from 10 to ST. 5
per barrel for flour, 8 per bushel for meal, 20
to 25 cents for lard and l 9 to 4cents for sugar
and coffee. You have paid prices correspond
ing to these for clothing for your families. At
tic odHe IiAC thc WaSes VI Joui iapoi ilt1s
come down, and we appeal to sleepless nights,
caused by your anxious thoughts upon the
subject, if it is not with great difficulty you are
able to provide for your families under these
circumstances, even though in good health and
the vigor of manhood. How, then can you
educate your children? Or how can you pro-
vide for the in6rmities Of old age? Suppose
you are sick or should die, does not your heart
bNkd toehuk of leaving your families upon
the cold charity of a selfish world? This road
will give you employment, and increase your
wages. 1t will chSspen the priceof every artl-
Gle consumedeos your families, on on average,
below the present prices of ordinary years,
fully 335 per cent, and thus it will enable you
to provide better for them and lay up a little,
along, for a ''rainy day" ItwH develop a
population that will soon establish good schools
in every neighborhood, and. enable you to edu-
cate your children, and give them some chance
in the world. As you have I. deep interest in
this road, we want you to help build i; You
may not be able to take stock, but you have
got vote, give US that and you shall have the
road. -l<..-t
We have already transcribed our limits, and
time will not hermit IFS to purSue the subject