The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1873-05-30


Railroad from st. Louis through
Huntsville, Ala, to the South At
Iantfc.
To the President aud Board d. Directors OF the
Duck RiUer Valley Railroad:
GENTLEMEN: On the 18th of September
was appointed Canvassing Agent of the Duck
River Valley Railroad Company, and since
that time have done all / could to advance
the interests of the Company. You now have
an able and efficient President and Board of
Directors sufficient amount of stock sub
scribed TO guarantee the completion of the
work, with that energy which, am satisfied,
you will 6estow and with that hberality and
pubic spirit with which you will be sustained
by the people interested. You d. not need
my services any farther, and therefore, l deem
it proper to resign the position. Permit me to
say that no more magnificent enterprise has
been undertaken than the one in which you
are engaged, and there can be no one which
will confer greater benefits upon the present
as well as coming generations, If il can be car
ried into successful operation. A railroad
from St. Louis, Missouri, through Cairo, Hi
nois, and huntsville, Ala, TO the Atlantic
coast is work of the first and highest impor-
lance. 1t will furnish the most direct line
from the GREAT CITY of the Northwest TO the
South Atlantic Seaboard. Its local advantages
will also be very great. IL will run for many
miles through the extensive coal fields Of ILL
nois, then through the rich agricultural regi-
ons of Western kentuky and Northwestern
Tennessee, and then into the inexhaustibe
iron re districts on the Tennessee River. At
ter leaving them, it will pass through the finest
portion of Middle Tennessee into the, beauti-
full and rich valley of the Tennessee in Ala
bama. The value of farm products in 1870,
in the counties between Cairo, Illinois, and
Huntsville, Ala, through which this road is
to pass. amounted to $l4383, 654. The coal
and the iron on the line of this road,
with the manufactures which would be the
n natural result, would furnish It with constant
remunerative employment. Those who cannot
appreciate the magnitude of this enterprise, it
seems to me- have very narrow and contract
ed view of the great future of the country.
1t is, however, as the Inauguration of the
new system of railroads in Tennessee that
your road has its commanding interest.
Cheap transportation for agricul ural, mine
al and manufacturing products is the all alb
sorbing'question of the day. We can never have
cheap transportation until we have railroads
built and operated upon a cheaper and more
economical plan than the system now in use.
We need and must have railroads that can do
as much business as that now done, which
will cost not much more than halt what pres
ent railroads have cost and which can be Ope
rated at one-third less expense. This is the
only solution of the difficulty, and tne only
means at all practicable OF securing what is
now so much demanded, CHEAP transporta
ton. fhe multiplication of costly railways
will not remedy, but rather aggravate the
evils of which the country now complains. 1t
is, theref ore, important that you should not
only build, but Keep your railway a narrow
gauge. The small attempts at ridicule of
such roads, betoken weak and shallow minds,
which have never Investigated or are incapa-
bic of comprehending the subject
The great engineers in Europe we'll as
America, have pronounced in favor of them and
daily experience is proving Their value.
Feeling confident that you will be sustained
by an enlightened and generous public in your
efforts to improve the country, resign the pc
sition which you were pleased to confer upon
me, and which is no longer necessary.
Very truly, yours, &C.,
May 28th, 1878. WI. SYKES.