The Van Buren press., 1868-07-24
From The Fav.,terine DsnOe,a,
Railroads.


On Saturday, the 4th inst, AZ Spring.
field, Missouri, ground was broken on the
). W. b, Pacific Railroad west from that
town in two years, or less, Fayetteville
will be within forty-eight hours OF Saint
Louis. She is reaching outher arms aud
grssping the commerce of the fertile
Northwest Arkansas and the still more
magnificent country of the Cherokees
and Creeks. She is wide wake to the
possession Of the present valuable and
future vast trade of this region. And
she will push her system of roads in the
Indian country before Memphis wakes
up even on the Arkansas Valley.
A few years since, all the region from
Springfield, Missouri, to Springfield, Con
way county, Arkansas, from the far Cana
dian, Washita and Red rivers, through
Scott, Yell, Pope and other counties to
those of Van Buren. Searcy and Marion,
WAS tributary to Van Buren on the Ar,
kansas. Now she Is little more than a
country retail town And Fort Smith is
also losing its area Of trade; for all the
north part Of the Indian country now
buys its goods from st. Louis. Our pco-
pie are asleep, the Railroad companies of
our State only talk in their counting
rooms, and that they do publish is not
seen by more than one man out of ten.
The people need arousing, shaking up,by
lectures, pamphlets, diifused information
on Railroads. They must be. enlisted.
made to know facts concerning the ad-
vsntsges7 Of railways to their country.
and books of subscription presented to
each and all Of them, even should sub
scription be as low as two dollars fIom
widow. Get the people into the scheme,
get them interested, get their, money into
it, and then we shall see something done
AS Georgia years ago did, and as Saint
Louis is now doing Give Memphis a
dig, she ought to pour out at least mil
lion of dollars on the Fort Smith d. Lit.
tie Rock Railroad; give Little Rock and
Fort Smith a dig; they too ought to sub
scribe five hundred thousand dollars
more. Then the Arkansas Valley Rail
road will be built. There's too much
Rip Van Winkle about the Companies
now, and they are too timid about spend
ing money to explore the resources Of
the country snd| then dissimenating the
information gathered.
The Arkansas Valley Road is not built
the eproieet slimbers quietly. Memphis
has not learned experimentally the value
Of the Arkansas and Indian country re
sources. st Louis and Kansas have.
The people of our State are apathetlc as
to railways and seem MOTTO care whether
there ever is one built among US neither
subscribing, talking or caring for the
matter. Then another drawback, and
which st. Louis merchants have taken ad-
vantage Of, is the high and irregular
freight on Arkansas river Steamboat
captains ,anl, ,riyer merchants have had a
monopoly so long they have grown blind
and tremendously selfish. and care only
for the making as much as they can out
of little. They care nothing about the
building up of countries and creating
commerce. They are not far-sighted
men. They must wake mp, brush off the
scales from their eyes and cast souudings
in their pockets TO see how much they
can therefrom subscribe TO the building
Of railways slsr'mi.' sa. sl-
Everywhere else on the globe water
carriage is the cheapest. But on the Ar
kansas it is the dearest SO long rs this
controls, so long will the Valley be kept
in the woods. More anon.