The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-10-07

were all ttlaI Sic dfcu--uHu Hcr III
roads saved her. Had she been with
out railroads when the war ended il
would have been many, mary years
before she could have recovered but
as it was, she struggled along, funded
the interest upon her debt, until now
her entire railroad debt amounts to
S34127, 527, nearly the entire original
cost of her railroads. Even with thiI
heavy debt contracted, as i have men
toned, she is making arrangement:
to pay her debt, and preserve her cred
it untarnished. 49, $50, 80 ...,,,.
Nearly all Of the-.rsilruadsa in Ten
nessce pay their interest, and the Leg
islature now in session will make ar
rangements to put Tennessee credi
upon as high ground as That of an,
State. The State Comptroller, who
by the way, is a Republican, il politi
cal matters are to have ANYTHING todt
with this question. says:
taking this view OF the subject,
would respectfully suggest TO YOU
honorable body the propriety of sci
/ ling a sufficient number of our road:
for the bonds of our State, to lesser
our liabilities some eight OF ten mil.
lion of dollars. With this reduction
in our State debt, our liabilities could
be regularly and uhflilingly met and
with assurances that the escutcheor
of the State Of. Tennessee will never
be soiled by the mildewing touch OF
reputation, ourgood Commonwealth
would Soon appear "clothed and In
| her right mind,s and sit, contentedly,
a queen among her sisters-a position
to which shelis entitled-a heritage
that awaits herF
1t is believed that the, dcfaultine
railroads can be sold for enough to
paw the debt, ON which the State il
bound, and she would have little, II
any of the debt to pay, but even if she
had it all to pay she would have much
more properly than some other States
that are much richer in natural wealth
than she is. Her .irhole debt is S37, >
59O.O27 OS, whilst her taxable proper.
tv is 1923, S62,243 SO, leaving, after
paying all. her debts, which 1 have
shown, she would not be under the
necessity of doing, S1S6, 272, 2l6 So
nearly. the whole value of the proper
ty. including slaves which she had
when she commenced the railroad
system. / have dwelt thus long upon
Tennessee, because, under the circum-
stances, she is the best illustration OF
the importance and value of railroads
Without her railroads she would have
been hopelessly ruined-with them
she will soon be great, powerful and
rich State, free from debt.
ALABAMA RAILROADS. " rn
1t has been asserted by men high
i'm position, that the Alabama rail
roads yet to be constructed, which all
admit will cost from $4,000 to $780,
600 per mile, if not more, will not pay
the interest on cost of $4,000 pei
mile, and pay the bonds to this
amount when they fall due. 1t has
been asserted in public speeches made
here in opposition to measure now
pending in the Legislature, that these
roads will be thrown upon the State
and the State viii be the loser there
by. Twill show that this is mistake,
one well calculated to injure, if not
destroy the railroad system of Ala
bama. If it be true that your rail
roads will not pay interest on a debt
of $4,000 per mile, what inducement
have Northern or European capitalists
to invest in your roads? If the lien
which the State will have should alb
sorb the whole value of the roads.
then all the capital invested in your
roads over $4,000 per mile, will be a
clear loss. / have heretofore shown
how the State or its citizens might af-
ford TO lose their stock in the roads
without being injured, because the
enhanced value of their property
would doubly compensate them for
the loss of their stock but this would
not be the case with capitalists who
own no property in Alabama. If you
will satisfy capitalists that your roads
will not pay interest on $4,000 or
even $25 900 per mile, you will drive
them from your State, and lie forced
either to build all the roads with your
own money, or let them remain in
an unfinished condition But l am
satisfied your roads, especially those
penetrating the mineral lands, will
pay the interest upon cost of $780,
| 600 per mile. and leave a sinking fund
with which TO pay all the bonds which
NAV be used in their construction.
Z - 4 MISSOURI RAILROADS. 2Cf8
Missouri, which had a debt of S2S,-
| 600, 600 at the close of the war, with
an accumulation of unpaid interest
for five years at six per cent. per an
mum, amounting to thirty per cent.
of the whole debt, has paid one-hali
this interest in cash, and issued bonds
bearing six per cent. for the remain
der, and has since, reduced her debt
to about SIS, 0O0, 900, and her six pei
cest. bonds are now worth ninety
cents ON the dollar, and has been ena-
bled to bring about this favorable
condition of her finances and hel
wonderful and almost unexamrlcd
prosperity by the operation of hei
liberal system of railroads. may
here assert that no debt within my
knowledge, incurred by any State fol
the building, of railroads, has EVIL
been repudiated, and those State:
which have the most railroads, have
the best credit as well as the mos
wealth.
GEORGIA RAILROADS.
Why is it that Georgia is so mucl
i'm advance of other Southern States
1t is because of her liberality towards
works of internal improvement. i
is unnecessary for me to say mucl
about her roads; all that are acquain
ted with the subject know that thu
Georgia roads, of which the principa
are the Georgia road from Augusta t.
Atlanta, and the Central road from
Savannah TO Macon, are paying larg'
dividends, and their stock is YER,
valuable. If roads in other State.
should be managed as well as thos'
i'm Georgia, there is no reason VIII!
they might not pay as well.
The Western and Atlantic road
from Atlanta to Chattanooga, pait
into the treasury of Georgia S95,OO'
net profits of four months for the las
quarter of 1869. Most ofthe railroad
in Tennessee are paying the interes
upon their debt, and win soon b.
able to decrease it. The business o
all the roads is rapidly increasing.
1 The Atlanta and West Point roat
paid last year over seven per cent
upon the cost of its construction.
The following extract from the re
port of the Comptroller of Georgi;
shows what the Atlantic and Gul
: Railroad is now doing, to-wit:
"This would make the income o