The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-04-24

CSf1 fassen6sv 1eifpayas-0uH ooo1 81 city
having slumbersd . long t10A ao4 hllea seAlJ
behind the age, has recently waked up, and, g
start. II the peopls ma tAs Olsy FAfnsrs -
true to their own interests and these connded
to them. she viii rapidly tnerease II import.
Ance and prosperity. But her people musl
have ensray and public spirit, and The Ci.y
and progress, which someof her business nssn
have reesntly exhibited. There ars nany
thises Which Ne must have. and have at once,
Il We are toe0esos fFo0 tAe eondieion Of :
eounuy sown ard aaaano that Of . city and
very prominent among these, in our opist0n,
IL City Isseenesf Railway. 80 g
We regard The e43iy constructions Of . fAi1.
way conaecting the two extTomes Of u city,
eomWuntCot1on, - q matter of such vital i'm.
portascs TO The interests Of The city, that We
have made arranGsmsuts to inform onrsels e.
a. applicable to Richmond, and eivs that in-
formaston to our readers, 90 thet they may go
how much suoA . line Of communication
would add to their comfort. pleasure and busi-
ness facilities, and, II they do not have it why
IL 10 that they are deprived Of II.
We shewed a few days since that single
line from Rockets to the head Of Broad street
must carry At least !. $50 passengers day TO
pay Its transportation expenses. To make the
road pay six per cent. upon it, investment, va
must add: 1st-thc salaries of it's officers, Oh
compensation TO owners for the time they
devote 70 1t; 2d-the depreciatfon OF its pro-
perty and the repairs necessary; and, 3d-the
interest upon its cost.
From reliable data, We assume - the small
est sum for which single track route can b
constructed and equipped At $S0OW-whAch
is about One.fOurth less than we believe to BE-
enough-for double truck, 475,UO. Besides
mere employees, it viii require the close 4t-
iention Of two good business men to manage
its affairs properly. Assume a. compensation
to officers and receivers, or to owners, the sum
OF $a,O0, which we think will not pay. The
property OF one of these lines il eminently
perishable, and depreciation aud repairs upon
the best lines never fall below ten per cent.
per annum. That, on $JO,ONO, would be 85,NUO.
Six per cent. interest on s5s.OOO would be
$3,OOO. So that the route must earn ST., ,UOO
per annum to pay its expenses, other than
those OF transportation, and pay six per cent.
at * cents, seo, Cos passsDeers-or $50 passea,
gers day. These, added TO tho $50 passen.
gers necessary To pay for transportation,
makes an akgreeate number Of 2.iVU passen-
eeFs day, which must b transported over .
per cent. upon the investment.
Any one familiar with Richmond, the cha.
racter Of Its population and business, will At
glance see that there are not In me city the
material to furnish 10 much ira and that
the road cannot now be made TO pay, whatever
It may do when its population has much In.
creased.
These are the 1gures in the cities where
cities are the heavy grades which exist ia Rich
mond. The grades here will require heavier
ana more costly teams-the cars must Be- made
high ter-but with the same amount Of strength,
ana WIFI necessarily cost much mOre--and the
wear and tear of roads. teams and cars pulling
over these heavy grades, will b. much greater
In all respecfs the construction, equipment
and running of rOad In Richmond will b
Richmond, than in any city north Of it-evsn
II II had the Same amount 0f travel. but with
oor email populat sparsely scattered over
much space; with our lab0rtng population
ride, aud with very small numbsr Of tram
stente, II cannot have fourth OF the travel
which exists in the largo cities North, where
the streets are closely built, and there 10 con.
slant crowd Of passengers.
The gentlemen who proposed constructing
road In Richmond, made their application to
the City Council, supposing that II would pay
eight or ten per cent, II allowed to charge six
cents passenger. Since then their examina-
tions show that they cannot, At that rate, ex-
pect more than six per cent, and even that
amount fashionable But while they are not,
as business men, inclined to throw away their
take the chance Of making 1t pay legal intsr-
est for tho convenience and comfort which it
will give to them and their families. II how
ever, they are to be SO restricted and trammel.
ness judgment tho road cannot be made to
pay at all, then Who can expect that they will
make an Investment which must result Ia
loss3 II the Council will give them authort-
ty to build the road, with the power 10 charge
fair rate for transportation, and without
exorbitAut taxation and undue restrictions,
the road will be built, and the cars will d
running over 1t before the end Of the present
year. II, on the contrary, the Ooanctl refuses
70 remove the restrictions embodied In the or.
dinaDce lately adopted. we greatly fear thai
eur city will have NO passenger railways q
boast Of for many years to come. II ever