The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-06-05
The Memphis and Charleston Railroad
To the Editor of the Nsrs:

regret to n0tlce tnaI sSOH ueiSui"A 0NSS-
norary in its remarks on the recent election OF
President of the Memphis and Charleston Rail'
road. does great injustice to the successful can
didate Major NJ. j. Wicks) and to his able anc
efficient predecessor {Col. Sam. Tate), IN I'M
putting to them hostility or antagonism &c
Charleston. None who are acquainted with
Colonel Beirne will detract from the comp1'
mert paid him, whick would seem to be the
principal object Of the article but no ]udloiouf
and intelligent friend would claim for him
equality with Major Wicks in the special quan.
fcations calculated to make an efhcient ano
successful railroad president The opposlnon
was more local than personal Memphis agalns'
Huptsyille-and the Charleston directors thre"
their votes in favor Of the latter. The Mercury
copies & Huntsville journals account OF the
matter, with comments and inferences OF lts
own, which, upon properly informing itself, II
will ascertain were as unjust ss they we're uu'
founded.
Railroads, like other corporations, are e2-
pected to pursue that policy wuich they sup
nose most conducive to their own interests.
This would have been the duty of Colonel
Beirne If he had been elected President OF the
Memphis and Charleston Railroad, without ref
erence to the Atlantic outlet of the freight
passing over it. This was the policy OF Colonel
Tate, whose sagacity and energy has made him
80 conspicuous among the railroad managers
Of the country; and it will, doubtless, be the
policy of Major Wicks, his successor. But the
intimation that the last named gentlemen have
been or will be Influenced by any special hos
tility to Charleston is simply absurd. Frelghts
from Memphis to- Charleston now find their
way to the great commercial centres OF the
world by the route to Norfolk, instead OF
Charleston, because they can do it more econ
omically. At the commencement of the pres
emit business season, President Tate addressed
letter to the presiding officers OF the rail-
roads between Chattanooga and Charleston,
proposing through rate Of freight between
Memphis and New York, which would send
it by way Of Charleston. His proposition Was
to establish such . rate as would enable him
Ito compets with the agents Of the Kentucky
|, and Ohio soute, aud the nlinQs routes, in the
carrying trade between the Western and East
ern cities, and after paying the charges Of the
isteamships between Charleston and New York,
the railroads should divide the remainder pro
rata between them. It was proposed, also,
that the rates between Memphis and Charles
ton should be on the pro rd.a basis, thus Civ
ing our city the advantage on its direct ship
ments to Europe. A satisfactory arrange
meut having -,been made with the steamships,
these. propositions were acceded to, and for
few weeks Colonel Tate was euabled to compete
successfully with his rivals, and o large pre-
ponderance Of the cotton forwarded from
Memphis to the Eastern cities passed
through Charleston. But at. moments no.
tice the New York steamships refused to carry
any more cotton, unlees at double the rates
formerly agreed upon, and as a compliance
with this demand would make the railroad SER
vice utterly unremunerative, the entire ar
rangelnent was broken up, and the trade from
Memphis reverted to it's former channels, ex-
cept small amount which passed over the
East Tennessee and Virginia Railroads. And
this Was not strange, when much Of the trade
from Atlanta, Marietta, and other points in
our sister State Of Georgia, took the same
direction.
! The Mercury will see, by this statement, how
unfoanded are it's charges that Colonel Tate is,
or has been, inin,ical to Charleston, and with
how much more propriety they might have
been directed at parties nearer home. But it
may be, and probably was, a necessity on the
part OF the steamships to increase their rates,
as it would be on the part of the railroads If
cotton and other produce had to be carried on
the passenger trains. Those luxurious floating
palaces for passengers cannot be expected to
furnish an economical medium for the trans
portation Of bulky feights. and this suggests q
reform and Iemedy-the establishment of q
line Of propellers, calculated especially for the
prompt and economical transportation offreight
but with accommodations for passengers who
would be satisfed with substantial but no; ex-
pensive fare, and Of these there should be but
one class. The propellers could essilymske the
distance between New York and Charleston in
sixty hours; fast freight line between Charles
ton and Memphis deliver it's goods in
forty hours, and allowing ten hours for trans
fer in Charleston, the time necessarily occu-
pied between Memphis and New. York need not
exceed one hundred and ten hours, or say four
and half days. This would be, by long odds,
the quickest, and might be the most economi-
cal route between New YORK. and Memphis, and
would be still further improved upon the coI-
struction OF the proposed railroad from Atlanta
to Decatur, by which the distance will be les
sened some eighty miles.
In the present depressed condition of busi-
ness, and absence Of capital, it cannot be e1-
pected that means can now be had to invest in
these improvements. But that they will be
made, and that they will be effectual in making
Charleston leading outlet Of Western pro-
duce, none can doubt who comprehend her
great natural advantages. In the meantime,
let not her citizens, and especially those who
assume to direct public opinion, indulge In
unjust and gratuitous imputations against
gentlemen in sister city, who are identified
with US in interest, and have manifested their
willingness to identify themselves with US in
action. X.
The Russians In Asia-Fan OF Bokhara.
kilograms from Central Asia forwarded
through the Atlantic cable, announce that the
Rre,;o, m ;l;torv o1vopca in Hontria1 Asia con-