The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-19
tits true, by a'further petition coming from
him rs President oil the Petersburg road !;
and 10 lhis Hary hour althnllfrh. stranlinfIs

aud to this very hour, although strenuous
effort has been made in that direction, we
have been unable to ascertain when IL was
that the Petersburg company itself entered
into the lists. The first movement was the
one which really represented the character
OF this whole proceeding--a movement m
behalf OF and by Mr.. Ragland himself. Not
only has there been no expression of the
public will upon this subject, through the
ordinary organs by which that will Is mani
tested, but there Is no public want.
There has not only been no public outcry
upon this subject, but there Is no public
want TO be gratified. This is not proposf-
ton to develop the wilderness or TO give
railroad facilities to those portions Of the
State where there are none, but one to build
railroad where there are already provided
morcthan ample facilities for transportation.
| say, therefore, that II Is not true there has
been any public demand for this bill, OF any
expression of popular sentiment IN its be-
half. Aud it is equally untrue That there Is
any public want for additional railroad Ia
ci,itics between Petersburg and the Potomac.
If the present facilities between those points
were insufficient 10 meet the public demand,
the parties who are now urging this piit
would. stand in very different posltloh.
Whoever would protest under such clrcun'-
stances ought 10 find no favor before TINS
committee or the Legislature. But we come
here to make no such protest. we STAND ID
no such attitude. II this committee shoulu
I've Of the opinion that the present facilHles
are not sufficient 10 satisfy the wants OF COM
mcrce, then public duty is imposed upon
them to see that others are provided. But
il, on the other hand, the committee shouid
he satisfied that tue parties making this ap-
pication are pursuing their
lEIvATE INTEREST UNDER THE CLOAK OF ATCBLc
DEMAND .t....
they should be dismissed with the States rc@
bukc.
This Fredericksburg road has been charged
on more than one occasion with being al oD-
structouist. Such was the ayerment In The
original memorial presented to the LeSisla-
ture, and subsequently in the circular OF The
Petersburg Railroad Company addressed to
this committee. It has turned out by the
evidence taken before this committee that
this charge is based upon two alleged facts
one ;tn interview which took place between
Nh Ragland and Mr. Robinson in this city,
at the dep0t of the Fredericksburg road, and
the othera conversation between Mr.. Sprigg,
the superintendent of the Petersburg road,
and Mr.. Robinson, Oh the Fair Grounds at
Weldon. -@@ ~.F
During the progress of the examination
before this committee it has been shown, us
any Que might well suppose without any
proof, that the forming of tariffs, rates, and
schedules was a matter of great difficulty
and intrcacy, requiring the greatest dclibc-
ration, The relative rights and interests OF
| the railroads which make the schedule, as
| well aS the demands Of the public, are all TO
| be canraSseu and consulted. Schedules are
not born Of impulse, or in casual, transient
| conversations. They are generally the sun-
jccts Of correspondence or Of interviews,
| Wherein all the rival interests are carefully
and laboriollsy considered. Never, | sup
pose, III the history of railroads was tallil
OF rates formed under the circumstances dc.
tailed by Mr. Ragland in bis testimony. Ii
there had been an honest desire on the part
of Mr.. Ragand to establish freight rates
with Mr.. Robinson, c:,n amy one doubt that II
would have been made the subject OF cor
rcspondcnce, or ut least Of business-like i'll
qury! 1t would not have been postponed
until after the adjournment of the meeting
which had been called for the consideration
of matters relating to the business Of the re-
spectivc companies. | say
SCHEDULES ARE NOT MADE IN THAT WAY.
If Mr.. kagllnd really apprchcndcd that
Mr. Robinson would refuse to carry cotton
on any terms, or on any practicable terms,
he would have been careful 10 have secured
that refusal in such unmstakabIe terms that
there could be no controversy about it. |
will not say that the conversation to which
Mr.. Rayland refers was Il sharp trick, for
IL. Il
do insist that ali the facts point to a purpose
on his part to place Mr.. Robinson in posi-
ton which he did not fIirly occupy. Mr.
Ragland is indiStinci all the way through in
his testimony in respect to that interview.
In the first instance he represents that he
asked Nj. Robinson if he would carry cot
ton ut his published rate. According 10 the
strnocraphic report which we have he re-
peatcd this statement more than Il half-dozen
times. Twice afterwards he declared that he
asked Mr. Robinson whether he would curry
it at all. BY one statement alr. Robinson Is
made to refuse to carry according to his
published rate by the other he refuses to
carry ut any rate. Eagland was in posses
sion Of the information obtained by Mr..
Spri"g at Weldon, and knew very well that
Mr.. Robinson had stated his readiness to
transport cotton Cn the Fredericksburg road
on fair and proper terms. Under these cir
cumstanccs of discrepancy in the statements
of Mr.. Rayland and Mr.. Robinson as TO this
| conversation, which is the more worthy of
| credit? The testimony of Mr.. Robinson,
| though without hc>itancy, WAS given with
great modcsty and in Il manner which must
have impressed its honesty and integrity on
the minds of the committee. Mr.. Ragland
not only gives two different statements, but
makes Mr.. Robinson utter declarations ir
direct opposition TO those spoken to Mr.
Sprigg. and to which the latter has testified
1t is true that Mr.. Ragland claims only tc
be an ''apprcntice" in railroadng, although
sone Of his performances. as | shall show
might make us almost reach the conclusion
that, instead Of being an apprentice, he is :
master workman. But there is hardly mar
in this State who does not know, what Reu
ben Ragiand also knew, that MIR. Rob
inson was obliged to carry cotton for him al
his published rates, whatever those rate:
were. Reuben Ragland knew it JuStas vel
then as he knows it now, and he knew 1t a'
well then as we know any fact That Is patent
before lis at this moment. 1t WIS not only
the comnun law OF this land, derived from
the rights, the duties, and the obligations o
this company as Il common carrier, but 1t was
made pa7 Of their duty by the statute law
of Virginia. Any man or any company lIaf
the right to demand Of any and every public
carrier that his produce shall he taken in The
order of time in which it is delivered, and al
the rates at which it has bound itself TO the
public to carry them. Ragland knew it; he
knew it then, and he knows il now. II is
THE BALDEsT rRETENCE
for any. person to come before this intelligent
committee and contend that Mr.. Robinson
refused to carry trelghts ut his published
,.,toS Ihn rnlilsal Mniill hnyn uf1nln Mt al to