Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1866-09-08
From tho Independent Press. I


From tho Independent Press.
Tho Management of Southern Railroads.
Our Charleston exchanges arc commenting
OH the exhorbitunt charges, and impolitc dis
ordinations against our own citizens, which
are alleged to characterize the management
of our railroads. The effect of this course is
to divert trade and capital from our own bor
ders, and to build up rival cities and diverse
interest. Tho policy is as short sighted aud
impolitlc as it is unjust and unpatrotic; since
ITS necessary and legitimate result is to curtail
tho future business and profits Of these ron H.
-" They cannot afford to do small business"
rs a writer well remarks. Their Investments
arc too largc. and their expenses tno heavy, to
be sustained except by - large and profitable
trade And to attract this business. and to in.
crease and to sustain il, nn enlarged and ibcr-
al policy must be adopted.
The Charleston News charges uron the
Grecnvile and Columbia Railroad, that du.
ring ihe past yoar, ia oxhoriLi."nt r.tos hovv
driven thousands of bales OF cotton to the
Savannah river, and that tnrup, MS it is " nav.
igablc for raf, or a fiat, South Carolina cot.
ton has followed its circnitous course to Au-
gusta," aud that for similar reasons, conSign-
'ncnts Of grain arc delayed in Columbia, whilst
WIN 10 oSiiiHS l'SlTlclS OH tic line
of the road nt $3.50 per buslcl Similar
charges nre made against the North Eastern
Railroad; and the consequence as announced,
is, that whilst the dcpots at Savannah and
Wilmington are crowded with freiohts, tho
South Carolina roads have been forced to make
a sweeping reduction in their expenses by the
| discharge Of clerks and operatives.
We do not know 10 what extent the state.
mcnts of the following extract from an article
in tho "Charlcston Courier" arc true, but
this we know that here public and private in.
tcrest arc 50 intimately connected, that M
railroad can long sustain itself, BY unjust and
| otllous dscrimNations, and by cxrrbitant
charges at the expense Of the communities in
| which it is located, aud upon which it is dc.
pendant for its business and profits.
Is it just that railroad should discriminate c
in its rates of freight against the citizens Of
its own State and i'll favor of those of anoth-
cr StatcG This, we arc told, is the daily
practice of least three Of the railroads with.
in the limits of South Carolina. Indeed the
South Carolina Railroad has always acted up.
on this principle, by chargeing more freight
upon cotton and merchandise from Columbin
to Charleston than upon tho samo articles
from Augusta to Charleston. Tho Charlotte
and Columbia Railroad, which has only lG of
its lO9 miles in North Carolina, is notorious.
! ~ managed 40 ny to discriminate by combina.
| tions with the North Carolina railroads and
Norfolk steamers against Columbia and Char.
lesion. Again: the Wilmington and Man
chester Railroad charges nearly as much for
tic transportation Of freight from Sumter to
Florence, ns it docs for the same freight from
Sumter to Wilmington, more than twice the
distance. Now, as these two roads-thc Char
IIffn md f,,I,,
chestcr--arc controlled mainly by North Car
olinians, we have little hope that rc,nonstrau-
ccs will avail nught in securing fair and i'm
partial administration Of their dealings with
the general public. We must look for a rem
cdy to our Legislature Let general law be
passed, prohibiting, under tho sovercst penal.
ties, any discrimination whatever on the part
of railroad companies, in favor of individuals,
other railroads or steamboat companies. Stat
utes of this character have boon enacted in
several of tho Northern States, and have given
general satisfaction. The State, beyond all
doubt, has tho right, and wc believe it to be
alike its duty and true policy, to enact such a
law.
Apart from this question, the schedule of
freight rates now in force on sn!nc of our rail.
roads is matter too intimately connected with
the prosperity Of Charleston to be overlooked
oy our citizens. 1t is justly complained that
there is no good reason why the freight on
cotton should be treble what it was before the
war. Then it was 81 per bale from Columbia
to Charleston; now it is SO per bale. 1t is,
of course, right that. fifty per cent should be
added to the old rates, on the score Of depre.
ciated currenoy-and perhaps fifty cents more
per bale might be allowed for extra insurance
on the increased value Of cotton so that 81
per bale ought certainly to be the limit Of
freight upon cotton from Columbia to Charles
ton. The labor and materials required to keep
up a railroad are certainly not more than fifty
per cent. higher now than they were before
the war.
Sow TUnNrps.-Wo find tho following