Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1870-06-10
A Commercial Center. ].


Some people ooutend ifthe Air. Liue Road
is bu,lt.by Walhalla it's benefits will befelt
only at that place and along the line These
are the samo wse.aorcs who droad the com.
pletion Of tho Blue Ridge Road, because for
sooth wo cannot then afford to mako corn as
low as it can be brought from Tenncsseo.-s
Railroads equalize value and when market
is opened into any section there is an imme.
dato advance Of it, products towards their
value on the seaport, the cost of Transportation
only being tho difference. Without road
corn here would not be worth above fifty
cents. The actual value of an article is it's
market prico less tho cost of transportation,
and hence the cheaper the freight and the
the less the distance to point of shipment
the less the loss Of gross value by expenses
If a pebble be dropped into pond Of water
a wave will be formed, which decreases as it
rcccdcs from the point Of disturbance, but it's
effect, though imporceptiblo, extends to the
utmost Emits of tho water. So with COM
mercial center. Its prosperity is limited in
effect only by the globe, though it decreases
as the distance from the center increases, un
til it becomes imperceptiblo. In the com,
mercial world She center and circumference
act aud react upon each other If'thc build,
ing Of this Airline Road would not benefit
the surrounding country for great distance
it would produce but little appreciabie effect
upon tho prosperity Of Walhalla. The town
has no water powers for machinery, no timber
to run engines, no mineral resources to be de-
velored, no fertile fields to grow corn, cotton
and other staples, in word no Inherent
source CT wealtk. Tho country possesses all
these, aud tho opening Of communication
with the outer world is the first step for their
dcvclopemcnt. With population and capital
introduced, general pro perity springs up, and
the town and country are mutually benefited.
If Walhalla was 4 crossing in the midst Of a
great desert would railroads build it UP? II
might become the theatre of diuner house,
a dram shop, notion store, and nothing more
Simply because to benefit town, there must
be ousiie prosperity established. The extent
to which the ccnter and Surroundings react
on each other is determined by the point
where the wave meets conflicting wave pro-
cceding from another commercial center. In
carly days the building of a road from Charles
ton to Columbia benefited this section. It's
completion to- Anderson Increased the benefit
by placing us in two days of Charleston in.
stead Of twelve. Now We are bnt forty miles or
one days travel removed from Charleston.
Let us put ourselves nearer to New York and
atlanta. Railroads annihilatc distaucc, cheap.
cn freight and travel, economizc time, and en-
able tho farmer to get thc actual market value
for his produce. Formerly it required twcn
ty days to write to Charleston and hear the
pr,co NC oo,Cuu, uuu nrU.v.. a.Js guJ
it hauled there, to say nothing of the expense
Of transportation. Away with the preiudiccs
and fogyisms of old times, and let us secure
an enterprise which will reflect its benefits
thoughout timc to ourselves aud postcrity.