, 1873-06-04
THROUGH FREIGHT RAILROAD.

ton or such. n highwny as a national public
'oorh, wo humb1y pray your honorable botlioB to
grant chartor for tho construction OF suoh
road, with judicous and proper restrictions, !"
etc' Tho purpose is nowhere avowod in tho no.
tltlon Of having tho Government undertake
| tho work OIL it's own accornt md
| NC hopo thoro Is no such intention
lurking at tho bottom Of the petition. THE
Tribune has frequently pointed out tho roasona
why tho Government should not 60 into tho rail-
ROAD business, and it is not necessary to roiterate
thoao REASONS go long as tho Credit Mobilier
| transactions aro frosh In tho minds Of tho poo-
plo In connection with tho present project, It ig
only necessary to say tint, II the through freight
railroad can afford tho relief expected from It. it
will haYe largo and profitable traffic, and thero
will DO no difficulty in onliating priyato capital
to build 1t. II tits to DO Il losing investment.
tlon Its roliof would DO Of forced ind artificial
character, subject to all tho abuses Of Govern
mont protection, and thore is ovory roason why
tho Government should hayo nothing to do with
1t. So ,..
Thoro ia another objection to this mannor Of
inaugurating the project. Congress is petl-
toned to exercise doubtful powers boforo any
effort is made to sccuro tho desired privilege to
traVorho various statoa from tho State Goyorn-
monts. " It is trr1o that Congress granted clar-
tor through tho State of Minnesota to tho
Northern Pacific, and tho oxoroso Of such
power is not necessarily dangerous; but it
would be obviously moro In harmony with our
form OF Government first to ask tho charters
from the States through which tho proposed
railroad will pass. There is little doubt tint tim
various charters which arc nocosaary could bo
obtained. They cortainly could DO had in
Ohio, Indiana. and Illinois. That por-
tion Of tho road lying in Now Jersey
could bo built under tho now gonoral law of Tint
stato. Pennsylvania is, norhaps, doubtful, but
1t ts probable that tho people OF that State will
havo adoptod q now Constitution providing for
fsoe railroads before tho present cnterpriso can
aaaumo definite shape. In any case, 1t will DO
timo enough to apply to Congress- aftor It shall
havo been ascorsainod that the States will not
grant tho necessary charters.
Tho character Of the proposed railroad Is ma
terially tho same as that suggested by Josiah
Quinoy,-a doub1o-track steel railroad, to DO
worked exclusively for freight business, Of tho
cheapest practicable rates, and at q speed Of
about soven milca to tho hour 1t is estimated
in tho petition which has been prepared that
such road would carry from Chicago to Now
York tonnage equal to 45o, ,o00, 900 bushols Of
wheat, and return as many tons to Chicago.
This would DO tonnage Of 1880, 600
annually ench way. Mr. Quinoy's estimate was,
Tint, at eight miles pcr hour and two miles spaoe
hesweon trains. with twenty-five cars each yay
overy nftocn minutes, 100000 toms could be
carried each Way, which would bo total tonnage
capacity of 14,ooo,ooo tons both ways. >Those
oatimasos aro undoubtedly oxtravagant, because
thoy do not allow for unavoidable accidents and
delay, and would require an enormous invest
ment In care, locomotives, and employees, which
could only be justified by permanent and rog-
ular business demanding tho number OF traina
as estimated above. It ia not necessary, howoy-
Or, to accept those exaggerated estimates In Or
dor to demonstrate tho usefulness Of tho pro-
posed railway. In round numbera tho total
amount OF grain moved from the North
west to tho East In the course of tho
yoar is 2oo,ooo,ooo buahola. IT,, thon, the
through freight railroad would movo less than
half of tho amount estimated, With all tho other
railroad and wator facilities left to us, It would
provide just double the present fAcilitioH.
Thoro arc other advantages which such rail-
road, properly constructed, would proaont. II
},ui1t F1rn u1. - 41 IT,
uniform toll to cars OF tho proper atzo and con-
etruction, ,theratos would necessarily BIO very much
lower than on railroads Which hayo beon built
OH tho Credit Mobilior plan, which domand diyi-
dands on watered atook. In addition to this,
tho freight business would not bo called
upon to pay for my 1oss Of timo aud
o1tra expense Incident to rapid passenger
transit. Properly managed, thoro would bo no
need to have the road blocked up with freight,
which Ia unavoidable with roads of single track
in which passenger trains have tho right Of way.
It il common, at certain Seasons Of tho year, to
find our railroads so much cloggcd by rush Of
buBinoss, or by the natural obatacloa Of snow,
leo, or foods TINT It IL almost impossible to
handle tho freight which tho roads might orli-
narily carry without difficulty. Tho first con-
sidoratson is gtvon to tho passenger travel, In
which there IL largo competition, and tho freight
in such caBos IL allowed to take caro- OF ituolf aa
all tho roads at such timeR have moro Of this
business than thoy can do. Tho delays that
aro thus accustomed represent Borious
loss in time, tho ntoroHt on tho capital invested,
tho wages Of employees. oto. 4 worry largo pro-
portion Of these delays would be avoided In a
doublc-traok freight railroad, and tho public
would bo relieved Of thu excessive charges made
to comnensato tho railroads for tho losses incl
don't to thoao delays.
Tho proposition which is made In the petition
in regard to dividends IL to limit tho net profits