The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-04-08
17s.ses 81 145.4ss 90
s1o5, ,576 ss s1Os. .725 so


The deficiency which will be observed in our
freiehts was partially anticipated and 1plained
at your last meeting as probable consequence
OF the extreme depression which was then
acharacterizing the agricultural interests OF the
country through which our road passes. lt ls
/; also to be accounted for, in some measure, by
the reductions Of our tariffs, which were made
during the year, in thu hope OF extending and
increasing our business. Their failure to DO
this can only be ascrlbed to the absence OF
other elements equally necessary to the recupa-
ration OF these interests, which it was neither
In our power or province to supply, ana hence
the very limited requirements for the facilities
We were prepared TO extend. In word, the
country both contiguous to, and remote from,
our line has not afforded us business proper
tionate 10 our capacities. The evidence OF this
appears in the fact that during the past year
we should have Transported but 1883 bales
Of cotton, as against &C 691 bales the previous
year, ard IS, 41 bales IN 1850. We are not,
however, to suppose that this state Of things
provement which is perceptible in other
sechons OF the State is not, eventually,
to be realized in those Of which our
road is the natural outlet. 1t may be grad
nal and even slower than elsewhere, but al
ready We are seeing some gratifying evidences
OF change for the better. So far as the local
and through travel are concerned, We have
given ample accommodations to both, without
deriving adequate returns from either: In
view OF the general prostration above alluded
TO, our local population could not DO expected
to move WI. : ...e frequency, saa IN lie lie numbers
which it formerly did. Experience shows that
these depend less upon the single item OF fare
than upon an expansion of lts wants with the
means OF sat styling them, and meeting the ID
cidental expenses connected With departure
from home. Until, therefore, our people De-
come wellthier, these movements will necessar
rily be restricted to the more pressing demands
of business. With this view, however, OF en-
.courasing them as far as possible, We have
adopted the practice of issuing commutatlon
tickets to all our way stations, emitting tnelr
purchaser to a specific amount OF Transportation
at one half our regular rates. That our through
travel should not have increased will occasion
no surprise, in consequence of the delayed re-
construction of the Savannah and Charleston
Road. The break which 1T has pres )nted IN
the otherwise continuous Atlantic Coast Line OF
roads, extending from st. Marks. Fla, TO
Portland, Me-, has, unquestionably, turned
from u.s. and from our city, a large proportion
of the travel constantly passing between these
eXtremities.
Our operating expenses have been brought
to that point beyond which they could not be
further reduced, without detrIment to the
company's interest, and the serious deteriora-
ton OF It's property. A rigid ,onomy should,
of course, be observed, but if carried to that
extreme which provokes accident and loss OF
property, 1t would become uuwisc and even
criminal. a certain expenditure Is unavoida-
BILE - the roadway and rolling stock, lion.
bridges, cuverts, &C., must all receive the
same attention aud repair, wbethe@ or not our
trains carry their full complement of freight,
or one instead OF one hundred passengers. 1t
ia true more extended service would some
what swell our ex oepses, but the ratio of our
profits therefrom would be greatly increased.
From the foregoing review OF our receipts and
expenditures, the inference would seem cor
rect. that they have tou he'd their lowest
level. and if, since the close of the war, they
have Welded net income equal to the annual
interest Of the company. on its various classes n
OF iudebt :dness, amounting to some s9o,UuO,
there is o reasonable certainty OF their
doing so in future. The prospect OF
a dividend is still remote. ana SO
entirely dependent upon the general improve
ment OF the country, and especially the con
struction of new hcs or feeders to extend the
sphere of our operations, that any antlcipa,,
tions wo nigh, express upon this point Wouid
be too problematical to havo any value. AZ
present we can only deal with the facts ana
probabilities looking to that result, By the
recent action of our Legislature, all tho op-
stacles to the reconstruction Of the Savannah
Road have been removed, and we are now as
slred of the determination OF the com ANY IN
charge OF 1t 10 restore, at the earliest possible
date, the valuable connections which ltor-