The Placer herald., 1870-11-19
COLFAX AND NEVADA RAILROAD.

= HOW. III CfNt|'', 4 'N''oN' l|ts e'hA cN'-N''N
are all beat,ng the bush to scare up some
body to build narrow guage Railroad from
Colfax to Grass Valley and Nevada city.
Such a road might be convenience to the
people along the line, and especially SO to
Nevada city, if that point should be the ter
minus, which would be almost certain, as
the Road could proceed but few miles
farther before encountering the South Yuba,
q formidable obstacle to overcome. The
Union and Transcript have both proved, to
their own minds, that the road would be a
paying investment, and perhaps in this they
are correct, in the abstract, but that small
stockholders would ever get dollar Of divi-
dends or cent of their original investment
back, no one familiar with the workings of
California or any other latter day corpora
tons, will for a moment believe. In this
view Of the subject, and having the equities
between man and man at heart, we should
advise all small capitalists who are not posi-
tive that they will be in the controlling
"rng" not to invest; or in other words to
keen their small means where they, as the
possessors. can control them themselves. But
to return. The Nevada papers have proven
that such road will pay, and in that view
of the question we should say let the capital
lists who will eventually manage the road
and pocket its receipts, build it at their own
expense and out of their own money, and if
there is any ''hogging" III the future, let those
who are disposed to ''hog" take their chances
of being "hogged." In other words, let cap
italists build the road and then fight the
treeze-out game out among themselves. If
Nevada city could command the means to
build and control this road and hold its per-
manent terrnini at that point, it would make
it one Of the finest and most prosperous
mountain towns in the State or on the coast
The present property owners there would,
however, be the only parties benefited in a
money point of view, as business men from
every quarter would flock there and crowd
out OF divide the trade with those now there,
and thus by competition render their latter
condition worse than the present. We can
readily see how Nevada city, by the con-
struction Of such a road could be made to
swallow up and concentrate nearly all the
towns and business of the county, and add
vastly to the value Of town property and
building lots, but that freight or passage
would be much cheaper or swifter than now
admits of extreme doubts. That all rivalry
would cease between Grass Valley and Ne
vada city, and the former become mining
suburb, by reason of its proximity to the
chief city of the county in time, is also
probable. Freight would have to be broke
at Colfax as now, and the little road would
be as much in the power of the Central Pa
cifc monopoly as are the merchants and
tcamsters now-indeed more so, because the
new road would force the entire trade and
travel to the Central Pacific, while now the
merchant and teamster can choose between
Colfax and Marysville, competing lines 1t
is in the power Of the Central Pacific to
charge about S27 ton on freight from Col
fax to San Francisco, or rice ce,sa, and yet,
to get the business of Nevada county over
their line and away from Marvsville, we
suppose it charges much less; but when the
Nevada road is built, the teamsters driven
away the turnpike gone to rack and the car
rying trade assured to it, will not this same
| Central Pacific charge more for freight and
passage to and from Colfax than it now costs
from the center Of Nevada county? 1t
seems to us that a company that has charged
twice as much for freghting sugar pine lum-
Der as other lumber, simply because
the one can stand the enormous charge
and the other not, would not fail
to put up the tariff on the people of
Nevada county whenever it is in its power
to do so. This much talked of narrow
guage railroad is to start at Colfax, proba-
bly, mile or two above or below, as the
!
the old town and make a new one, and them
selves speculate in the town lots, a prosper
Gus business town in this county, and would
be positive injury, in any event, to the peo-
pie and property Of that place. We dislike
to dampen the ardor of any people who think
they have found an "Aladin's Lamp" that
by the mere touch will answer and hea! all
their material ills, but we feel SO confident
that this narrow guage Railroad is not that
lamp to either the people of Colfax or Nevada
county that we could not refrain from these
modest and suggestive remarks, and we hope
they may be received in the same kindly
spirit as given.
EXPRESSIVE LETTER-We received on
Thursday last a letter from Carson City,
| Nevada from an old friend and subscriber