Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-11-24
THE PLAN FOR BUILDING THE MEM
PHIS AND SELMA RAILROAD.

Ill we nave WEllltu titttC Oh tnC oubgOSe
of what is termed the Memphis and
Selma railroad, the omission was die
tated by no Indifference to so great an
enterprise. We have thought, and still
think, another road of more Importance
to this city, and have given our reasons
at length Our people have been of the
same opinion, and the Little Rock road
is placed beyond doubt or conjecture.
We can now turn our attention in other
directions and ascertain how matters
stand on our own side of the river. The
value to us of road running di-
rectly to Selma need not be ar
gued. All intelligent men think
alike upon that point But can
that road be constructed ? What are the
chances, and what is the planfl The
Aberdeen Examiner has an article on
this latter point which strikes us with so
much force as to justify us in yielding 1T
the most prominent place in our journal.
1t is as follows: From gentleman
whose opinions are highly valued by the
Chambers of Commerce of Memphis and
Selma. and who if not the pioneer of the
Memphis and Selma r. r. scheme, has
at least been its most devoted adherent
and the hardest worker in the cause, we
obtain the following points with regard
to the great project, which, if successful
and it cannot fail unless Memphis
closes her eyes TO the vision of greatness
and prosperity it holds out-will make
Aberdeen one of the largest and most
Aourishing interior cities in the South,
an Atlanta intensified.
"The distance, he tells us, from Mem
phis to Selma, is about $50 miles; of this
distance thirty miles are already com
pleted, leaving gap of $50 miles to be
closed.
"a most liberal estimate places the
cost of building and stocking the road at
seven millions of dollars. The cities of
Memphis and Selma, and the interme-
date cities, towns and counties, will be
expected to subscribe two millions to the
stock of the road, and here is the plan
for realizing the remainder Within ten
miles of the road on each side, there will
be twenty sections Of land for each mile
of railroad. If the owners Of these lands
will subscribe one fourth of their land in
stock, this will give FIVE sections Of land
for every mile of road If they will sub
scribe one-eighth of their lands, it will
give two and half sections per mile, or
sixteen hundred acres. This lGnd, wheH
the road approaches completion, will be
worth an average of ten dollars per acre,
or sixteen thousand dollars per mile, or
four million dollars for the two hundred
and fifty miles. This, with the two mil
lion of city and county bonds previously |
subscribed. will enable the company to
build the road in much shorter time |
than under any other system that could
be suggested.
at is evident to all who are at all
conversant with the record of wonders
worked by railroads in the Southern
and Western country, that the remain
ing lands on the route belonging to in
diyiduals will be worth fifty per cent
more than the whole tract would have
sold for, without the railroad.
"If one-fourth of the land within ten
miles of the road-bed should be invested
in stock it would amount in valne upon
the completion of the road to 1872, 900 per
mile, and yet leave the original holders
weather. than they were ere called upon
to enlist in the progressive enterprise.
"To show our readers how the build
ing of railroads enhance the value of
real estate, we collect the following
facts:
Between 1853 and 1853, the four
counties of Butler, jackson, Limestone
and Lowndes, Ala, increased their land
valuation from s9,79s, 1896 to $685.
500, in consequence of the construction
of railroads through them, whilst the |
counties which had no roads-Coosa,
Barbour, Chambers and Pickens, in
creased only from S, 562, 4lO to $9,397,- |
S65.
I'm the years 1861, while the in
crease of taxables in Tennessee was
about forty million dollars, five Of its
chief railroad counties gave twenty mil |
lion of that increase. The counties were
Davidson, williamson, Rutherford, Bed
ford and Shelby.
"In Georgia lands which were in the |
market in lS46 at from ten to fifty cents |
per acre, commanded in ls49, when the
Chattanooga railroad was in operation,
from ten to twenty dollars.
ain Ohio the taxable property was in
amount Sl36,OOO,OOO, when there were
only eighty-nine miles of railroad, and |
$40, 200, 900 when three thousand miles
of railroad had been constructed. In !
Illinois the rise was even greater, from !
So, 100000 when twenty-five miles ex-
listed, to SlO2 ,OOO, 900 with two thousand
FIVE hundred and ninety-eight miles. In
Indiana an increase from thirty miles to
one thousand eight hundred and sixty
two miles, increased the value Of prop