The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-09-01
GH 4 RI E S T ON.
SATURDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER l, 1866
"THROUGH. II. RALEIGH"

/
There are good many people, we are
sorry to say, who entertain the notion that
Charleston is passe-that We were q city once
frst-class Southern port of entry, and q
commercial centre Of no mean Importance
but that now we have no longer right to
this honorable position. And why are we
asked to give up all these advantages, ours by
right both of nf tural situation, and Of long
years of honorable toll and enterprise? Be-
cause, forsooth, ve haze no money! If a
word is said about building q railroad, re-
building the burnt district, or any other kim
dred enterprise, we are at once met with the
cry "We are too poor )" "The city is hope
lessly in debt y "City skies below par = and
more in the same strain.
Now what are the facts of the case Has
our city debts merely, and no assets, or are
her obligations covered by good and availa-
BILE securities? This is generally lost sight
of in all the loose talk We hear On this SUBJ
ject on the street. When our city takes stock
or bonds in railroad, is there any special
reason for burying the parchments in the
vaults of the bank and there let them be
covered with mildew? Why should they
not be aired occasionally in the cheerful
light of day, and used too, the same as they
would be if the property Of an individual or
of banking firm ?
Besides the $685., ,4O6,75 in the Nashville
Road sufficient to take us to Macon in q
twelve.month, the city has twice as much
more, which ought to be put to a better use
than moulder in the dark recesses Of bank
vault.
In building railroads, or constructing any
other work Of magnitude, good scrip can be
made available, in these days of bankers, bro
kers and stock exchanges, and a mere lack Of
actual, veritable greenbacks, is not sufficient
excuse for folding our hands, and letting slip
the golden opportunity now within our grasp.
We have in previous article shown the fatal
error committed by our city in not fostering
the Wilmington Railroad scheme. A similar,
nay, q better, chance now offers to retrieve
that loss, and to make valuable now COM
paratively worthless, certainly non-paying
property, viz, theHNortheastern Railroad, in
which our city has a most vital interest.
We publish, in another column Of to-day's
News, second communication on the subject
Of the Cheraw and Coalfelds Railroad, from
the pen Of one of the best informed and most
progressive-minded men in the State. The
writer shows, in simple language, and by facts
and figures, not to be disputed, the important
advantages that road will confer upon the city.
Indeed, these facts are such, that mere state
mert is all sufficient to bring conviction to
every mind.
The Coalfelds Railroad must be built
There is way to do it, but like all other
public works, energy and brains are necessary
to bring itabout. 1t will take $2000,000 to
put down q frst-class railroad from Cheraw
to "The Gulf" (the terminus in the Coalfelds,
where it will meet the Raleigh and Chatham
Road, now in course of construotion). We lay
stress on the words frst-class;; for there GRE
too many routes now competing for travel,
mails and freight, for any other but first
class road to obtain business, or keep it if OBJ
tained. The road must be built so that the
first rain shall not wash away half its en-
bankments and trestl les, as has 80 often been
the case with other roads in these parts. But
this en- passant $5O00O0, or one-fourth the
total amount Of stuck, is already subscribed,
and there is no reason why the city of Charles
ton should not take two.thirds Of the balance.
That this is perfectly feasible, we will now
proceed to show.
The city owns over half million in the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad-the best
paying stock in the South.. Our interest in
that road is just to the extent of the afore-
mentioned amount, for certainly it needs no
demon straton from US at this late period, to
show that Charleston ls not benefited by amy
trade through that road. 1t is very different
with the road now proposed to be built We
suont coal, and we likewise want the trade OF
that rich section Of South and North Carolina,
which will be available when this road is
built. Let Charleston agree to transfer this
Memphis and Charleston Railroad stock to any
company that will go to work in earnest on