Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-01-20
Charlotte "a rutherford Rail

of disreputable men 10 GET possession
the road through the Legislature thel
defeat by another ring equally disreputa
BILE, and the great injury to the credit ant
future prospects of the road, have been
source Of much anxiety to the true friend:
of the Wilmington, Charlotte and Ruther
ford Railroad, and OF the city OF Whining
ton. It must be a source OF congratula
ton to every one that its management ha
been taken from the control OF one Wh'
was not only manifesLly incompetent, bu
corrunt We trust that it has been with
drawn entirely from the arena OF party
politics. and that its affairs will be manag
ed unon a business basis, and with view
to its early completion. Beyond doubt
when finished the Wilmington, Charlotte
and Rutherford Railroad will do as muct
as any other similar work in the State, t.
add to the wealth of North Carolina, and
do more for the prosperity of Wilmington
than ell the other railroads and improve
ments which have been completed or pro
jecteG for its benefit. 1t would therefore
be unnatural if we should not do everything
in our power to sustain this great work,
and to uphold the hands Of those who have
control of it, if we believe they are honest
and Jealous in their efforts TO further the
completion of the road.
very casual examination OF the map
will show the inoalculable advantages to
be derived by Wilmington by the com
pletion Of the Wilmington, Charlotte and
Rutherford Railroad. BY its completion
we desire to be understood as referring
to its connection with tho kentucky and
Tennessee system of railroads. The fill
ing up of the gap between the Pee Dee
and Charlotte is q consummatiOn devOutly
to be wished, not only because it will add
so much to the business of the road, but
will give it credit and resources to push
its Western end through the mountains
This road will furnish the shortest line
from Memphis and Louisville to the ocean,
and by means of the Air Line Railroad
from Charlotte to Atlanta, which viii be-
built, the distance to Atlanta will be de
creased, and the country on that railroad
for many miles southwest from Charlotte
will be tributary to this road and to vii
mington. Should these connections be
made who can estimate the extent Of our
trade with the Mississippi Valley. Will
mington would sell West India products
to vast and populous section
of country which now has no commercial
with us, and would cell aDd
ship their products III return.
No business man, or any one who is in
terested in the prosperity of our city, can
contemplate the advantages to be derived
through the completion Of this road, and
which can be accomplished, without de
termining to do ali in his power to further
this object. The game is too important,
the stakes arc too great. We cannot afford
to lose. Our prosperity is too much
bound mp with this work to be indifferent
spectators Of the struggle through which
it is passing.
When the Baltimore and Ohio railroad
had been finished to Cumberland lis means
were not sufficient to penot.ate the, vast
range which rose up as q mighty
barrier between it and the Ohio river.
For years Cumberland remained its West
ern terminus. The road laDguished its
credit failed many Of its friends aban-
doned the enterprise as hopeless. Balti-
more stood paralyzed. Its commerce was
limited, it's population and wealth in
creased slowly. The city had no connec-j
tion with the interior except by routes
that brought it into competition with New
York and Philadelphia. A few leading
men, approaching the difficulty, undertook
to complete the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road. They succeeded, and the entire city
felt its influence. Commerce increased,
population followed, real estate advanced,
and new life and energy was infused into
every department. of business. Since the
of that road the prosperity of
Baltimore has been almost without parallel
in the world.
What the Baltimore and OGIo Railroad
IS to Baltimore the Wilmington, Charlotte
and Rutherford Railroad viii be 10 Viii
mington. It's affairs are IL no worse con
dition than were those of that road, nor is
its credit at lower ebb. If its affairs can
be upheld now and its credit restored it
can be speedily pushed forward, ana when
completed will do for us in equal proper
ton what the Baltimore and Ohio Rail
road has done for Baltimore.
Ex,President CoWAN, who has done so
much for this great work, and would have
placed its success beyond question but for
the corrupt interference OF the politicians
who controlled the State Immediately after
its reconstruction, in his report to the
Stockholders in 1867, after speaking of the
advantages the Western connections of the
road would give to the road itself and to
the city, says:
1--WE hope, however, that we have said enough
to convince you that road Is destined to
form part of great national highway, over
which an immense traffic Will pass, and that it
constitutes an important link IN "a great chain,
which cannot be omitted without materially da M
aging, if not destroying, the chain itself We
have, thus, q future OF bOundless prosperity
opened before US !; and our road becomes in
public necessity. No matter, thon,
what changes may take place III the country, or
IN the government, or among the peoplo-nO
matter what disasters may betall us, or to what
d elays and losses we may be subjected, we feel
an abiding confidence that this very road event.