Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1867-01-03
FAYETTEVILLE and Wilmington.

dent in reference to the extension OF the
Western Railroad now completed from
Fayetteville to Egypt in Chatham county,
To some point on the North Carolina Rail-
road, contains matter for the serious re-
Hection and prompt action of our people,
The President has already called meeting
of the stockholders of this railroad to as
semble in the town of Fayetteville, on the
22d day of January, to accept or reject the
act of the Legislature removing the mort
gage which the State holds upon the road,
by taking in lieu thereof stock IN the cor
poration, and we suppose the question of
the Western terminus will be brought be-
fore this meeting. At present, by the pro
visions of the act, the road cannot extend
beyond the North Carolina Railroad, but of
course this prohibition would be very read
lily removed by a future Legislature, should
it be regarded as advantageous to this road
and not destructive of other works already
completed, to extend it further.
Where the Western terminus of this road
shall be, is of vital importance to the city
of Wilmington, and this question also is
of the first interest to Fayetteville, and it
may be regarded as fortunate that the in
terests of the two places, in this respect,
are identical The terminus which will
bring most prosperity to Fayetteville as
manufacturing town, will add most to the
business of our own city as a market and
shipping point But on the other hand,
whatever may be the Western connection
of this road, Fayetteville will be benefit
ed to some extent, as at least a new and
expeditions avenue for trade and travel is
opened. Not SO, however, with our own
city. The vast commerce which now seeks
our wharves from the upper Cape Fear, may
to some extent be drawn off through Nlr-
ginia by this very means. 1t is useless to
shake the head incredulously and point to
the almost uninterrupted water navigation
from Fayetteville to this place, and thence
to the great commercial centres of the
world. We know that cotton, and probably
other produce, is now being brought almost
from within sight of the spires of Char
lesion, across the Cape Fear at this point,
and thence by rail to Norfolk. And the
same is true on the upper route, cotton and
other produce being shipped from Column
bia, South Carolina, through Charlotte and
Raleigh to Norfolk and the merchants and
planters are receiving their return freights
by the same route. This, we confess, is
singular state of affairs, and contrary to all
preconceived ideas and former experience
in regard to the transportation of freight,
but it is no less true than singular
Assisted, as the Western Railroad is, by
the recent act Of the Legislature, it will be
extended, beyond doubt and at an early
day, to some point on the North Carolina
Railroad. We suppose one of the four
routes named by our correspondent will be
selected. We know that while the bill WAS
under consideration, notthen having passed
the Senate, the stockholders of the Rich
mond and DanvilIe Railroad, being then in
meeting, had Geographic correspondence
with a distinguished member of the Legis
lature as to the prospects of the passage of
the bill, and the chances, in event of its
Company Shops, to Danville, Va, should
that road furnish pecuniary assistance
That without the efficient aid of Colonel
Hall, in the Senate, the bill would not have
become law, no one, we are assured,
would be more willing to acknowledge than
the Senator from Cumb erland, and the pro
ceedings of the House of Commons de-
monstrate how Colonel Cowan saved the
bill after it had been defeated upon its Sec
ond reading. For all this the people of
that section are doubtless duly grateful-in
fact, through their representatives, their
obligations have been gracefully acknowl-
edged ; but this Company, like all others
in the South, needs all the assistance pos
sible, and we cannot expect gratitude to
outweigh interest. The road will be ex-
tended to that point where most aid is fur
nished, provided such extension is not re-
garded as hostile to the interests of Fay
etteyille.
To this road, and the completion of the
Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford
Railroad and its connection with the West
ern Extension, or its own extension beyond
the mountains, the future of Wilmington
almost entirely depends. Our correspond
emit does not err in saying we may look in
vain for any benefit to be derived from the
North Carolina Railroad. Although the
charter of that road was secured by the eff
forts of the Hon. VIM. S. Ashe, one of the
most energetic and philosophical repre-
sentatives this section ever had, and
although one-tenth of the private stock of
that Company is owned in this city, yet SO
thorough and complete are its connections
with the roads leading from Raleigh to
Norfolk, that the latter place receives nine
tenths of its outgoing and incoming
freight. The trade from the entire section
OF country trayersed by this grand trunk
road is now lost to Wilmington, and our only
hope to recover any portion of it and open
new territory to us, is by the extension
OF the Western Railroad and the compile
ton Of the Wilmington. Charlotte aud Ru-
therford Railroad