Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-11-27

=
Encoura gemnt OF Special Articles = the
- virginia Central Railroad. F
It is a not unfrequent custom OF railroad
companies to select certain articles OF trans
portation as things entitled to peculiar IA
yor in the assessment OF tolls. IL - evou
commended, in support Of this poilcy, 1nas
company may carry certain objects OF trade
which are conceived to be Of great puDlioe
inheritance. for even less than the actual
cost of their conveyance, and find compen-
sation for their losses on these things Dy
charging higher for the transportation OF
certain other things.
The tariff which I have prepared and
submit for your consideration, rejects thas
doctrine as unsound and impractlcaDie'
founded in error, and generally mischievv-
GUS in its consequences. In properly adj
iusted tariff there can be no such principle
of compensation. Each article, standing
alone. is taxed as much, by company re-
curing all the revenue it can get, as 1t can
be properly made to pay. You cannot load
it with arbitrary charges. The rates are
fixed not by yourselves, but by facts and
PRINCIPLES. If, in defiance of, or disre-
garding the controlling facts, you levy .
higher toll upon it, the revenue must be IN
juriously affected or the trade must be un-
warantably reduced }''H ~. *
If, then, we charge for hauling plaster
less than the actual cost of its carriage. be-
cause we wish to increase the fertility of the
soil which is to bring the crop of wheat to
be transported next year to COM
pensate the treasury for the loss on plaster
by adding to the charge on the prospective
crops Of wheat-the only effect of such
policy will be to lose now what we charge
too little on the plaster, and then lose again
next year by what we charge too much Oh
the wheat. .9lynl s-1ll- .s n
Still, the principle is admitted that Ger
tain articles may be favored to this extent
that they may be advantageously conveyed
for very small profit. wish merely to
affirm the opinion that no article should be
carried at an absolute loss to the Company
that each commodity shall be charged
enough to pay the actual cost Of its convey
ance, with trifing excess, be 1t ever 80
small, for the benefit of the capital In the
work. - eatL4 s%gli- ssh
These favored articles, in the tariff which
offer, are few in number; and, in obedl-
ence to the plan with which [ set out. OF
submitting my entire proceeding to your
investigation, I wish to state briefly the
grounds on which they respectively rest.
The favored commodities in this tarlff
are, plaster, Stacked lime. lumber, pota-
toes, and pressed hay. ,
The claims of plaster and Stacked lime
rest on the fact that they are agricultural
improvers, and their application to the soil
being encouraged by low rates, will some
what enhance your future trade. Plaster.
moreover, fun nishes valuable back load
ing for the teams which bring wheat and
-four to your depots--and consequently the
low charges on these articles are expected to
reduce the cost of bringing in wheat, and
thus to some extent, enlarge the area OF the
country which sends its products to your
work. I'D tgis tsA 70 I1als-
These reasons, 1 think, fully justify the
adoption Of very low charges for these arti-
cles, but they are not sufficient to sanction
their transportation at an absolute loss.
Lumber, slaves, and shingles are placed
on similar footing for other reasons. Your
road, west Of the North Mountain, pene-
trates country which now produces lum-
Der and little else. The freight will be
light for long time. If this unproduct-
i've lumber can be made to yield even very
small profit on its transportation, it will af-
ford some employment to your necessary
freight agents and trains, give back load
ing for short distances to your empty re-
turn cars, and stimulate in some small de-
gree, the occupation of the country By
population whose future wants will furnish
more profitable trade.
Still, I by no means wish to advise the
adoption Of rates on lumber which cannot
be hereafter continued For, if you en-
courage people by special inducements, to
embark capital in business enterprises. and
then find their trade burthensome to the
Company, and repel it, the administration
will become obnoxious to future and just
reproach. 4 ''a
Potatoes are included in this list Of ia
vored things, because. west of the Blue
Ridge, where freight is deficient, there is
much soil which is said to be well adapted
to their profitable growth. But this pro-
duct can only be cultivated probably when
the market can be reached at moderate
cost. have proposed rate which is grad
uated to all parts of the line, and which I
| think will secure the transportation of the
article while it will remunerate the Compa-
| ny moderately for its conveyance.
Pressed Hay and oats are also, encour-
arged in this tariff by the adoption Of
charges which are barely remunerative the
object being to bring the surplus hay grown
beyond the Blue Ridge, to the Richmond
market, now in great degree dependent
for this commodity on foreign sources Of
supply. The price proposed is low, but it
is sufficient to justify its continuance by the
Company In order to encourage the prop.
er pressing of the bales, and their adapta-
ton to the dimensions to the dimensions Of
the cars, have assessed the charge By the
car good-so that every customer may find
a motive to put into a car as much as pos
sible, and hence to press it well.
These, I trust, are UNSUITABLE reasons for
adopting rates on the products named
which will now yield but very small re.
enumeration to the Company. In the course
of few years, if this system is continued
the trade in such articles will increase sen.
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