Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1871-08-04
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;han hall were fit for longer service.
70 all this may be supcradded, the
fact that the bonds of the company
were not saleaJIe alta ratcwhirh would
acst tlc1-thu-ds Of their face valGc, and
its credit on orcn account was 50 in
finitesinial as scarcely to be consid r
ed as having an existence.
Three years have wrought chan
ges, financially We flnd positive IN
crease of S227 900 in its favor notwith-
Standing the fact hat payment la
been regularly resumed on It's fund, d
debt thus increasing the value Of It's
bonds from p TO IS per cent. and rails
ing its credit e. a position inferior TO
none, aud thai Ss3jC00 have been APP
propriatcd to the further improvement
IF it, property. Physically we observe
HAT nearly ICE miles have been thor
oughiy baIias.cd, 80, 900 crcss-ties put
down, nearly 10 miles of new iron
aid (which we learn is TO be doubled
before Fall, and new bridges, dePots,
shops and water stations ever VIII TT
constructed, new engines and splen-
did coaches purchased and tonnage cars,
by She hundred and of the most ap-
proved style, turned out from the
Company's shops. hlladdin'a lamp
scarcely wrought more wonderful mir
a~lcs, ana it may we'll be asked, what
has produced this change? Such re-
suits do not spring from chance, so
there must be an answer, and it is sim
ply this:
Nearly four years ago, there were
three separate pieces Of road, leading
from Norfolk to Bristol, three disuni-
ted links of iron, each incapable of
perfecting its individual destiny. Tn
der the guiding hand of a master mind
! these links were seized and welded to-
gether indissolubly, into a perfect
chain, each imparting TO the other,
strength and giving to the whole what
each had always needed, complete
ness, harmony and a common destiny.
Natures great Highway, from the At
lantic to the great Father Of waters
was opened up to commerce and i'm
mediately the stream set in, till now
we find train after train toiling up our
mountain slopes or hurrying on to the
sea. laden with q nations wealth.
To our road, this success has brought
salvation and prosperity, the business
of its own line was inadequate to pro-
vide a revenue equal to the payment
of its current expenses, except by the
| imposition of charges on local freight,
which would have been and then eCerc
a severe tax on both producer and CON
sumner still it had to be kept open and
operated rs a public necessity and q
public highway, and it became neces-
sary to look beyond its limits for 9
traffic which would not only enlarge
its revenues, for the liquidation of its
expenses but provide means for the
payment of interest Oh its bonded debt
and enable those Improvements to be
made to the property which were es-
sential to its existence.
To secure this business and these re-
| suits, such rates and manner of accom-
mediation were necessary to be afford
ed as would enable this route to con-
tend successfully with competing lines
for the conduct of the transit business
and that these rates, though less than
those levied on local freights, were
relatively as remunerative to our COM
pany is fully shown by Gen. Malone,
| in an exhaustive review of this very
subject, in his Annual Report OF Sep
TENDER 1863, pages % to 81 inclusive
It cannot be said. with any justifica-
ton, that to afford such facilities to
this transit business works any injury
or wrong TO the local shipper, because
the proposition simply results in this.
that the transit or through traffic can
not be secured, except by meeting il
with as good terms as are offered by
others, and in its absence, the road
would be forced to rely simply on lis
local trade for a support, this has been
found inadequate to the task and
therefore as matter of necessity, the
first step to be taken would be an
advance Of local rates to make up the
deficiency between its revenue and
expenses,
But beyond this it must be borne in
mind, that by the introduction of this
transit or through traffic, tax is
levied on people and things, foreign to
our state, to make our road a success,
! while the increase of its business
necessarily enlarges the movement OF
trains with a constant increase of per-
sons employed, both upon the trains
and track, as well as stimulates the
construction of cars and engines. 1t
will scarcely be denied, that the cX-
ter dollars, for interest on the bonded
debt, for further improvement and en-
largement OF the property and for cur
rent expenses, made on account of the
Virginia & Tennessee Road, during
the year ending Sept. 30th, 1870, more
than two thirds of which passed di-
rectIy into the bands Of the people liv-
ing along its line, gave stimulus to
trade and promoted the wealth OF our
section to an extent, which no other
enterprise of which we could avail
ourselves, can begin to offer.
These advantages should be borne
in mind and carefully remembered,
because in their absence by the futile
attempt 10 levy local rates on this
transit or through traffic, which would
necessarily drive it from us TO other
routes. the company would be com