The daily Evansville journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 1862-1863, 1863-08-13


agTbe Carbondale IliS) Times de-
tends the Illinois Central Railroad from
some structures of ours several days ago
in regard to its treatment of Indiana
soldiers The Times says;
The capacities of the Central Road
are greatly taxed at present to do all the
business oifered-trains run at all hours
of the day and night and most OF them
upon Government account, transporting
furloughed soldiers and prisoners The
reason WHY the Indiana soldiers paid full
fare was, they did noLapply to the proper
L. s. officer at Cairo for transportation
this is given in all cases, and entities
the bearer to passage over any railroad
line mentioned at half the regular pas
senger fare-had such ticke's been pre-
scented by the Evansville boys they would
assuredly have been treated as all other
soldiers are.
The Journal is also mistaken respect
ing the bonus received by the |. c. R.
r. and its obligations to the Government
No U, S. bonds were ever donated to the
company to enable it to build their road
the gift was wholly in wild lands, and
comparatively worthless The building
of the road enhanced the value of the
land through which it now runs one hum
dred per cent, therefore in reality, Gov
eminent lost nothing by its liberality to
the railroad; but, on the contrary, it
proved profitable speculation, for it
brought into market and sold millions of
acres that otherwise would for the next
twenty-five years have remained wild
and unproductive We are under no OBJ
legation whatever to the Railroad Com
pany-being no favOrite of the officers,
they do not SO much as ever advertise
their time table in this paper, but still we
cannot see the company so grossly
wronged without setting our Evansvile
friends right about the matter. The
fault complained of was the neglect of
the soldiers themselves or the Govern
ment officials at Cairo. We have had
enough to do with such matters to know
this to be the case
Our complaint was not that the road
refused to receive the transportation
passes of the soldiers, but that by COM
polling them to go on certain trains, the
officers of the road virtually rendered the
Transportation" worthless Soldiers
%ba have BsSH aRasHtt 1fF88@ge hans f9g
areslimited to few days, can't afford to
hang around Cairo flor twenty-four or
forty-eight hours in order to take the
train set apart for them by the officers of
the road. They are entitled to any pas
senger train, and the officers of the Cen
trail road in refusing to let them pass
over their road, except on particular
trains, can have no other object in view
than extorting money from them This
is the point which needs explanation.
The transportation" of the boys is all
right They 60 to the proper officer and
get the proper passes, but when they GO
to the cars they are informed they must
wait for another train or pay full fare.
The officers of the road we'll understand
that nine-tenths. of the soldiers will pay
the full fare rather than wait, and in
our humble opinion that is why they have
established such regulations
1t is true, at the time they were do
mated to the road, the Government lands
in Illinois were not very valuable; but ii
is equally true that the road would not
have been built for years without those
lands; and their donation was one of the
Q most priucely gifts ever made by Gov
eminent to a corporation. The lands
were donated with the positive under
standing that troops and military sup
plies should be transported over the
road, if we remember rightly, free o.
charge. So far from the road carrying
out this part of the contract, we under
stand the Government pays literally fol
everything passing over the road, and
not content with that, the sharpers ex
tort money from soldiers because of thei
anxiety to lose no time in getting hom
that they may see their families ant
friends. We repeat-shame on such
soul-less corporation!