New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-01-10
Obstacles to Southern Trade.
From the st. Louis Democrat

1
| A glance at any railway map Of the
| Southern States will show that their rail
| way system is very ill calculated to promote
| the growth of a large commercial business
| between this city and any Southern point.
There are few important controlling trunk
| lines penetrating the South which can be
made serviceable to this city, and the ND
| merous short lines, beginning and ending
| at unimp0rtant points, intersecting the few
! trunk lines which do exist, are controlled
by small and inharmoniOus corporations,
more efficient in OBTAINING than transport
| ing goods. st. Louis merchants have been
sending commercial agents quite freely
through the South in the past year, and
they all agree that Southern merchants en-
terrain kindly feelings toward this city,
and would most cheerfully send all their
orders here for goods if their goods could
| only be made 10 reach them in something
like reasonable length OF time. Days and
weeks. sometimes months, elapse before
goods which have been ordered here and
paid for can be obtained, while it is asserted
that goods purchased in Cincinnati and
Louisville are quite promptly delivered.
Goods proceeding to Southern points from
this city by rail pass over the Iron Noun
tain road to Columbus, Kentucky. Here
begins the Mobile aud Ohio road, running
directly to Mobile. At Union City this road
connects with the Nashville and North
western road. This road at Nashville con-
meets with. the Nashville and Chattanooga
road, which at Stevenson, in Alabama, in
tersects the Memphis and Charleston road,
giving our goods entrance TO various points
in South Carolina. At Chattanooga a con-
nectiOn with the Western and Atlanta road
is made, and at Atlanta with the Macon
and Western, and at points further on the
Georgia Central which leads to Savannah
and Atlantic and Western roads are
tapped. All of the above roads are sadly
deficient in rolling stock, none more so
than the Mobile and Ohio and during the
very season of the year when St Louis
goods most demand transportation these
roads have use for all OF their cars in NOV
ing cotton, sugar, etc, along their lines,
and as q matter OF course, gives this bust
ness the preference, because it pays a local
tariff, which is always more remunerative
than through tariff.
The Southern trade is exceedingly valua-
BILE to st. Louis. even in its present crippled
and unsatisfactory condition, and were
some means to be devised by which the
goods we sell could be delivered to their
various points of destination within some
reasonable time this trade might be worked
up 10 almost illimitabe proportions and
consequence. Various methods have been
proposed for the accomplishment Of this
much-tO- desired result. One Is the con-
structiOn of trunk line to connect with the
Iron Mountain road at its Southern terminus,
which shall extend to various important
Southern points, one of these points being
Savannah. Another plan is for our mer-
chants to form a company for the purpose of
building several thousand freight cars for
the sole use Of ST. Louis goods, as Cincin-
natl and Louisville are said to be doing.
This latter plan seems to possess more ele-
ments of success and immediate relief than
the one of building railway does, and is
wholly within the possibilities of our mer-
chants.