Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1860-06-16
From the Edgsfield Advertiser.
The Blue Ridge Road.


ing letter before our.readcrs. j comes from
that distinguished gentleman lion. c. A.
! Tronholn, of Charleston, whose opinion on
the subject in question we hold as high au-
thority. The annexed note accompanying
this communication will explain why it WAS
sent to us for publication
| My Dear Sir: received some days ago,
"a letter from Col, Moblcy, to which the en-
closed woud be suitable reply, but having
: Ind inquiries addressed to me from other.
4 quarters on the same subject, take the liber-
fty OF addressing thereby to YOU that as gen
! ora and extended use may be made of it Us
circumstances may require. / have great
aversion to appear in print, but do not feel at
liberty to indulge it at the expense of good
cause, and, therefore, leave the question of
pnblicstion to your Judgment and discretion
/ Yours respectfully, G.. n.
sCHARhEsroN, April 4,-Dear Sir You
state that an impression has gone abroad that
if the Blue Ridge Road is continued, the
State Tax on nncgroes will soon be increased
to i've dollars per capita, and thGt this belief
has been adopted on the authority of Mr.
Gregg,
The opinionsof this gentleman on all proc,
teal subjects are always listened to with at
tention blythe public nor am disposed, on
the present OCCASION, to treat them with levi
/ ty; at the same timc,-wc should. ali have a
suitable respect for our own understanding,
and not be willing to yield our convictions ini-
phcitly to the control of mere .antlorify, or
shut our eyes against the perception Of plain
obsurditics, through blind respect for their
! imputed authors.
What was really said by Mr. Gregg in his
speech at Ed9cfed Court House, in Novcm.
ber Gf that is the occasion referred to), was
that if the road should cost S12 100000, the
tax on negroes would be raised to So 50-not
So, believe. Before proceeding to examine
the correctness of this opinion, we will briefly
review one or two other statcmonts inado by
the speaker, in order to show how little safety
there is IN accepting. without examination,
the information or reasoning even Of the
most practical and experienced,
Speaking OF .he Erie Railroad, of New
York, he alleged that it had cost forty millions
| OF dollars and the shares being now at S5
each for S100 paid in, il, followed, that this
| great work was worth, in the estimation of
! the public, only per cent op,S10,000, 900,
] seG :qo. more than 50, ,00o,000. Hhpt are the
That the road costgS6I ,000, 600 that being
built with $4,000, 900 of subscribed capital,
/ aud S2l 900, 600 of borrowed money, it fol-
lows, when tho shares still sell at So, that in
the opinion of tile public, the road is worth
the eiftiFG sum of $24 10000 of mortgage
debteoad S500,000 of the subscribed capital
in addition. In this there is nothing conjec-
tural, fortherc came from England in Septem-
Der LAST Commissioners, clothed by the En-
] Slish stockholders with power toadvnce more
money If necessary to eXtricate the Company
from existing embarassmcnts. Here is 4
mfstnkcfthen, on the part of Mr., Gregg, of
SO, GOO, GOO, IN stating the cost of n work
whose lstofyEis to be found inevery newspa-
per IN the country, and an error Oh $22 000,-
| OO0 IN estimating It's present value, effected
Through a reduction of which the filacy is
| conspicuous enough to arrest the attention of
! tho mcrest tyro IN figures. 1t is true that the
Stockholders have lost nearly their entire capi-
| tai, but thistis the result of errors and vices
| that do not attach to the administration of
single railroad at the South This is bad
enough, but he who undertakes to cnlightcn
the public mind on this topic, should at least
possess the faculty of discriminating between
loss of So or $40 100000 and one of $685.
| 900 600.
! There cannot be more striking exhibition
OF inaccurate statistics and fallacious reason
| ing than this, unless it should be the follow
ing: MIR. uregg, in tiie sabc speeCir, GeoiiuieSis
/ win inc utmost solcmnlty, and made the de-
claratioa, he $iid, on his responsibility, that
when Bangs & Co. were dismissed from the
| Blue Ridge Road, one million of dollars had
already been wasted, thrown away, and utter
! ~ lost by the Company, through misIocation
of the road, work imperfcctly dcno and loss
cs attendant apon the failure of Bangs & Co
Now tho question: to be asked is, how much
bad the Company speHt up TO the period Of
Bangs dist dssaI2 OF the sum expended up
to that tin,D, 81 600, eco had been lost; how
much then had been expendedP The propo-
sition can hardly be stated with gravity; and
logic is literally put out of countcnoncc, by
the very absurdityand drollcry of tho entire
problem The total sum expendc,S by the
/ Company for const 'uction and all other pur-
Eposes, up,to the day of Bangs & Co.'s dismiss
sal was $3.50, 900. And Mr.. Gregg grayely
alleged that out of this sum at least 81 ,000,-
/ GOO had been wasted and utterly lost
The s;mRlo tspth is that substantially not
a dollar had been waste. or lost, in any way
1 whateyer. To point o,., these extra ordinary
biundcrs is no impeachment of Mr.. Gregg's
oandorj itsiinply reveals tho extreme iuapti-
tnde Of so.ne minds for matters of calculation,
and the danger Of implicitly following their
guidance in questions involving the use of
figures. Those, therefore, who have adopted
the belief that the tax on NEGROES may be raj