Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-08-30
North Carolina Railroad VS.. PctcrsE &
and Norfolk Merchants.

North Carolina Railroad VS. Petersburg
and Norfolk Merchants.
We see in the Petersburg Indec, of the
signed as an advertisement for the Raleigh
and CASTOR Railroad Company.
We do not propose to defend Whining
ton as a business community against the
unjust assertions made in the article re-
ferred to- She needs none. Her skirts
are clean and her escutcheon untarnished
The language of the writer is not the
kind we would prefer to deal with Such
expressions as Brute Force " and "TFouh-
lessness may Stn7ed alone, unanswered, and
as the Wilmington merchants had no
more to DO with the matter complained of
than the famous man in the moon, - we
will simply state few facts land they
cover the whole ground) and leave the
Petersburg and Norfolk merchants to Judge
of the ''p0licy" recommended to them
to pursue, whether it be good or bad
The writer evidently does not under
stand the subject upon which he is writing
for we desire to give him credit for
cand0r We submit the following facts, and
we GnoeD them to be facts.
The North Carolina Railroad is from
Charlotte to Goldsboro', distance of two
hundred and twenty-three miles, three
fourths a State road. The question with
the Stockholders Of that Corporation, that
was decided at Greensboro, was one of in
terest to themselves, and not for any CITY
or place. 1t is this, Chow could they in
crease the recei pts of their road without
increasing its expenses ?" It was found
that by an old arrangement, made when
the State owned large interest in the
Raleigh and CASTOR Railroad, that the bulk
of through freigAts to and from Northern
markets, passed off their road at Raleigh,
while their freight trains, with a few cars,
kept on to Goldsboro'
It was also found that the cars left off at
Raleigh to go by Raleigh and Castor Rail
road would, if they had bee n carried
through to Goldsborough, have yielded
them about fifteen dollars per car. Admit
ting they had carried ten cars per day each
way for three hundred days, equal to six
thousand cars per annum, which would on
1y have cost them the "aCheeldge" on the
cars, extra, or more than it would if they
had left them at Raleigh, and We have
gross receipts from this source of ninety
thousand dollars that went to another Com
pany. This sum may be moro or less than
the actual amount that would have been
realized last year, if the present plan had
been in force but it illustrates the Driaaci-
pie on which the Stockholders, without
dissenting voice, decided this question. By
the present rates on through freights both
ways, we understand that Company re-
ceives about an average of fifteen dollars
per car between Raleigh and Goldsboro',
which is sufficient to make the plan per-
manent one. The difference in distance
between Raleigh and Weldon, by way of
Goldsboro' and CASTOR, is twenty nine miles,
and the longer distance is over road with
few grades and curves, upon which any
speed can be made hence no difference in
time.
The cost to the two Companies is no
more, because this is g Increased business"
and no train is run erclusicelY for it
which Railroad managers understan to
mean nearly all net profits. The great and
mistake this writer makes, and
into which all the Norfolk papers have
fallen, is that he and they are discussing
this question as applicable to freights 60
ing to the markets of Petersburg, Norfolk
or Wilmington, when the facts do not JUS
tify his conclusions.
The question is purely this, what route
shall goods from Baltimore, Philadelphia,
New York or Boston, going to all places il
North and South Carolina supplied by this
line, Or from these points to those cities, |
take as regards the Railroads between Raj
eigh and Weldon. Nothing mao2e-aaoMtnq
less. The Stockholders of this State work |
say travel over the longest distance of
our road, as it will give us the largest in
come. Is there anything more natural or
more reasonable
Should corporation, any more than an
AAuIf1uual, give away pfOntanIe business |
to crafty an outside party, in which it had
no earthly interest ? and especially so when
BY helping themselves they can benefit a |
friend. Look at it in every way, and moth
ng unusual or unreasonable can be seen.
AS regards the produce to, and goods |
rom, Norfolk TO the interior, we are in
formed by those who know best, that not |
'ne-sirth of the freight that passes over the
Seaboard Railroad, originates in Norfolk,
or goes to that market for sale and much.
7ery much, less from Petersburg. It has
been said that scarcely two cars per month,
If goods and produce to and from Peters
burg, go to or come from beyond Raleigh,
IN the North Carolina Railroad. Hence
'ur position that this is a question entirely
If transit of freight, through portions of
North Carolina and Virginia, and not bust
less to the market towns of either State.
True, great deal of produce goes to Norfolk
md to Petersburg from North Carolina, but
y far the largest portion of it originates