Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-02-03
IAN Injurious Report"


tan Injurious Report"
mR. Ep1roa Under the above caption we nn"
an article in to-day's Journal when CONTAIN
toroants calculated to iniure the trade OF our
city. and which, in justice to ourselves ANu o'A''-
commission merch ants, we uesIe IL oo4Io
011-.'.1s ,ot Inow where or how your infor ma-
49,, nos obtained, "thGt. since tho announce
- n1ade last November, of reduction OF
f-oioht ON cotton there has not been single
hole +ransnorted over the (W., G. R) roAu
an which more than 81 50 was charged Du' Nc
IN know that the r, II. Agents recelpss' IL ool
nossession. will prove beyond doubt thAV youi
statement is incorrect. On the ION Ill" I'm
instant we received by W., e. q L. h@iIhoA0 ="
hales OF cotton, shipped by some OF our if'on"s
in Arson county, freight upon when was cnN'
- 40 ror halo We declined to pay the freight
Iii ,,rtiI assured by the Agent, Mr. Cowan. that
the charge was according 10 the tArln estao'
Hshed by the Superintendent Of the ROAD. "hen
the cotton was cold we rendered account
GALES to the shippers, charging frelghI PfeclSeiy
as we paid it-no more ncr less. The statement
,on refer to rs made by the gentleman at Lies
vile is therefore, entirely correct, II me account
sales he saw were from our house
The wholesale charge against the integrity OF
uthe management of tho road have acted IN
good faith by the planters, and the enormous
charges must have originated, in som6 manner
in the Offices of consignees at this point" 10 cal
cnIated to do far more injury to the trade OF WI
noinpton than a mere difference OF one-eI@ MN VI
q cent pound in the freight on cotton. ana
We think the moro thoroughly your state
rnent !. st disseminated" about the head Of the
road. the moro apt the planters up there VIII DC
10 ship to Charleston, eince we cannot reasohs-
bIy expect them to consiGn their produce TO nlef-
chants who " originate, III some manner sdca
"enormous charges" or, III other words, make
false returns.
We wouId etate, further, that We have 20" III
our possession copy OF the tSritf referred to
above tprinted at the JOURNAL Office, too. by
the way, achich, sholoS for atset, and corrobo'
rates Mr.. Cowau's charges This tariff went
into effect January 18th, 1871, but was changed
two or three days afterwards, SO that all cotton
,,o,y shipped from the head OF the road comes at
tho reduced rate, 81 80 POI bale.
Very respectfully,
WICK & MEHANE.
We give place, most willingly, to the
above communication and, only promising
that our friends are rather hard on us,
will proceed to explain the entire matter {:
On Wednesday evening, about dusk,
prominent Commission Merchant called at
our office and exhibited letter from
gentleman at Liles7ille, in which it was
asserted that the management of the W.,
9. & r. +. r. had increased the freight
on cotton from the head Of the Road. to
Wilmington. from 81 so to 81 per bale, IN
direct violation Of THEN published tariff
The merchant alluded to assured rs that
there must be some mistake in the matter.
as he was certain that the rates had, at no
time since November last, been increased
as was charged in the letter, and third
party, who was present at the time, sug-
pested that il was probably a clerical error
made, here, IL one or two instances, IN
making up account sales. We therefore,
and without further enquiry into the mat&
ter, wrote the article that has so much
land with cause, we must admi0 provoked
so many of our friends.
A note from Messrs. Sprunt ~ Hinson,
and conversations with several other mer-
chants, proved to us, conclusively, that
the statement published by us was
incorrect and we fastened TO make the
necessary enquiries These have resulted
in proving that the correspondent at Lilies
vile was correct, and that 50
had been charged on cotton, from
the head of the Road, to this place,
the rates having lapsed, at one time, and
for Only t,ro days, from 81 SO to So, they
being now established at 81 so per bale.
Some Of the merchants were probably not
aware of the change, inasmuch as they
did not receive any cotton during those
two days. As to the unfortunate expires
aion that the "charges must have origi-
mated, in some manner, in the offices OF
consignees OF this point" we 10 not see
that it necessarily implies land certainly
nothing coCld have been farther from our
purpose) that false returns were made OF
that any one of the merchants Of this city
would, under any circumstances, take an
undue advantage of consignor.
Having unintentionalEy offended, this is
our apology, and, by way of reparation, we
have caused an extra issue Of the JOURNAL
to-day, which is rendered TO the mer-
chants, without charge, for the purpose o.
mailing to their correspondents, in this
way assisting us to " disseminate" this
statement more thoroughly than the other
and notifying parties who have not YET
heard the good news, that cotton will bt
brought from the head OF the Road tc
Wilmington for 81 80 per bale.
The charter for the Wilmington ant
Onslow Railroad has been obtained
charter with very liherol faatures Tht