Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-11-21


SAFE AND UBsIDX or RAILROADS..
II these were "ordIaaFy times" j.
would be thepght extraordinary, II not
regarded rs e~viiencipg q touch Of thai
insanity wherewith our Governor is af
hrcted, that our Legislature one day en-
tertsins a proposition to sell out three OF
OR best railroads, snd the next huFries
through q bill appropriating two millions
Of dollars for the construction Of Others
It would De considered Insane in an
other S ate but Tennessee, even 10 thsss
extraordinary times, that while We con
less our inability to psy "a We go, oui
Legislature is about to Issue two million
dollars for E Ist Tennessee railroad en-
serprises, sith 3 prospect Of an incresst
70 three, possibly five millions, to subsi-
DIE the railroad interests in this sDd the
middle division Of the State. Nowhere
but in Tennessee can e Government an0
| Legislature be found equal TO so suicidal
a course while veEging on the brink OF
State bankruptcy.
From private as well as public sources,
We learn hat scarce anything but these
matters OF the sale of our railroads and the
subsidy of those OF East Tennessee is
thought of by Legislators. Railroad lobby
ists have taken possession OF the halls OF
the Capitol, have driven away sllidessof
{ suffrage" from the heads Of cur honest
% representatives, and are workisg with
4 will that would DO credit to the Albany
Regency In its palmy days, 20 carry out
these uAheard-Of measures; and We re
greet TO sag that many are included in
the list whose hitherto associations gusr-
anfeed on. State from mischief at their
nands. Under the plea Of policy, they
are urging this sale and subsidy"
expee. : profit by both. We hear OF
"corners,n as the E.ie people phrase it.
where money is piled up, les in the case
of the Louisville Railroad loan Of s.
600 OG0), by the men who OF al others
Gould, il they would, relieve Our rail
roads, but prefer to buy, al a sacrifice Of
the stock Of hard worSing stockholders,
rather than 1T small and decent rate If
interest, help cur over-pressed railroad
corporations out of the slough into which
they have been plunged by the mail
administration of Stats officers.
Il what Other S ate Could capitalists be
found so ssi6sh as to loan 5000. coo
in order that 3 foreign corporation might
secure The entire control oi our rsilrosd
system and make Us tributary 70 Louis
ville-force Us, against ouf isclination,
a policy, and our interests, to become
accessories 20 the building ap a great
coulmercial center in opposition to Nash
vile, and Rockville, snd Memphis
Suca conduct almost amounts to erimI-
nality, but, coupled with the eonducJ Of
our Legislature Ia so legisisting as to plsy
into the hands of this giant corporation,
it passes al powers OF speech to charac-
terize it. How fated cur great Interests
are when thus q own ciuzsns, the men
on HON We should be able to depend,
f0rsske the standard of fair play, de-
cency, and the tTae interests OF Tennes-
sss, and prepare to purchase our
railroads before their sale is az
thorizsd BY the Legislature, and,
meanwhile amu5e themselves by labor
as lobbyists, engaged in the ostensible
work Of railroad extension, but in trut
to the aggregation of a gigantic monop
by which cur towns may be tempo
galvanized into life, but eventu
ally viii be killed cut of all recognition
as commercial points.
We DO hope, sud we ask, in the name
and in behalf Of people, that the
Legislature will pause ere they eff ct US
with this additional debt, and force US
beyond the brink and into the dishonor-
log condition OF reputation. Taxed in
every industry, and to an extent une-
By any other community in pro-
to our means, we cannot go
much farther with our load. We ask
our Legislature to pauss, te reflect that a
time mus. come for the exposure OF con-
templsted villainy, when all accounts
will be squared, and those in sin will be
cast out.