Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1872-12-17
From Lynchburg Republican of 14th.
THE EAST TENNESSEE RAIL
ROAD CONTROVERSY.

augurated at Knoxville, the Press
Herald, is seeking to delude its rea
ders with imaginary reason for the in
terest manifested by Gen. Malone AM
the Virginia press in that connection
Instead of trying to give satisfactor,
reason for plan of operations, whicl
involves the expenditure of three mil
lions of dollars. and the abandon
ment Of eightv-nine miles of compile
ted railway, in a vain attempt tx
create an elbow route which will re-
| quire three years for its construction
and then be lacking in the essentia
element of physical harmony, tina
journal, attempts to divert the mindi
of Tennesseans by the introduction
of issues altogether foreign to the
subject in which they have such 1;
vital interest. General Malone, i.
held up as having entered into thi.
controversy because of his fears thai
a rival route to his own, will be open.
ed in Tennessee on the one hand, anC
on the other, that his object is tC
cover up an assumed non ,iulfiilmen'
of his own undertakings. The at
tempt to make out of his question ar
| issue purely personal to Gen. Malone
is simply an evasion which will not
deceive intelligent persons. As tC
the Cumberland Gap extension, We
doubt not that matters there are prog
ressing in a manner satisfactory to
those interested. The line has been
surveyed and established, and the
Kentucky Road, with which it is to
connect, has been notified. as the pub.
lie well know, that the Virginia au-
thorities are ready to 60 to work so
soon as they shall signify their own
readiness to enter upon the joint
work, which measures the completion
of the whole line. The Virginia Leg.
islature imposed no such condition as
that the work should progress pari-
PdSSu with the five years referred to
in the charter. and the legal mind of
the Press and Herald we'll knows that
such condition, in the nature Of things
surrounding consolidation, would
have been an abserdity. Gen. Ma
homes Stockholders meet in Norfolk
next month, and we presume will be
informed upon this matter, if any in
formation may be desired. This,
however, IS not pertinent 10 the Ten
nessee question, and its introduction
is in very bad taste while serious
charges remain unrefuted against
those who have thrust it forward. =
The insinuation that Gen. Malone
has called TO his aid the services of
the press are, so far as this paper is
concerned, and we doubt not as 70
others, purely gratuitous, and without
foundation. What that gentleman S
views may be We are not advised. nor
do we know that our course in this
connection meets his approval, for
acting entirely upon convictions of
right and wrong, the Republican
speaks for itself. desirous only that
such measures of appreciation may
follow its utteranceS as the truth hon.
estly presented may entitle it to re-
ceive. Our structures upon the acts
and actors Of Tennessee railroad af-
fairs may have been severe, as the
Press and Herald seems to feel them
so deeply, but they were deserved. and
we challenge disproval of the facts
and inferences in the article to which
it excepts. 1t will be well if the
champion of Scott. Wilson & Co,
concede the fact that in this affair
there is involved the maintenance of
a grand idea for material prosperity
and that the struggle in its behalf, by
those who are seeking its perpetuity,
rises above the level of personal ag-
grandisemcnt.
The States Of Tennessee and Vir-
ginia, animated by patriotic impulse,
devoted funds from the public fisc to
the construction of grand railroad
highway from the Atlantic, at Nor
folk, to the Mississippi Valley at Mem
phis The chief end to be secured.
was the material development of the
territory tributary to its line. No
idea of dividends or of Wall street
stock jobbing operations was enter
tanned by its projectors. Public good
and not private greed was its mission.
In the fruition of this great scheme,
and i'm its public usefulness both Viz
ginia and Tennessee have a common
interest, and those who seek to di
vert this enterprise, in whole or in
part, to selfish ends ard unnatural
combinations, are morally rasponsi-
bic to the whole people of both Com
In this view General
Malone acts but as the representa-
tive of Virginia. direct interest, with
which he stands charged. In that
he is, and was in the lawful
of q sacred trust. Thus
acting. his line ofcouduct will be aP-
proved by Virginians, aud by right
Tennesseans as well. From
all that we can see. we are inclined to
the opinion that Gen. Malone can
have ample opportunity to make his
interest secure, ifhe were
animated by no higher motives; and
that the North Carolina route which
is so boastfully proclaimed as a
source of escape from his "tyrannieal
and arbitrary course" would fade in.
to oblivion. If he were willing to sac
rifice his manhood and his devotion to
Virginia, upon the altar of the South
ern Security Company.
1t is because. in our opinion, Gen.
Malone has failed to enter into any