The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-19
FACILITIES PURsIsnED By RICHMOND, fREDE-
RICKsBURG AND POTOMAC! RAILROAD. 80

- We have found that almost the only iaCfI-
ties which have been furnished for through
4 Transportation, both of 1: passengers and
| freights, have been provided directly or In
| directly by the Fredericksburg road. The
! roai from Richmond, to Aqua creek was
| rebuilt since the war by the energy and libe-
4 rality of the men who have been denounced
was in such sad condition that it was unable
to- furnish cars in numbers sufliciahs or in
style appropriate for the purposes Of trans
portation they were provided ''by the Frede-
ricksburg road. The two breaks in the line
one at Petersburg and the other at Rich
mond, which" almost prevented passenger
travel, or at leastl subjected this inland fine
TO- great ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS supplied with
railroad track by the efforts of the Frede-!
rieksburg road and its friends; and that, too,
inspite of the opposition of the city Of Pc
tershurg and its people, who were the own
ers and controllers of the Petersburg road
| COMPARISON OF FREIGHT RATES.
| But these are not the only facts. The.
| question of the obstructiveness Of railroad
| Is best to be determined by its rates. At
| the very time Ragland made his application
to. Mr.. Robinson the fredericksburg road
charged nine-tenths of cent per bale of cot
ton per mile from Richmond to Baltimore,
while the Petersburg road charged two
cents per bale per mile from Weldon to Pc
tersburg. I know Of no better test of tho
obstr,rtivencss, or eXtortion, or oppression
of railroad than an examination Of its
rates, through and local. / may here be
permitted to observe that careful compari-
son of the respective rates Of the Ffedericks-
burg and Southern Railway Security Com
pany will show that the local rates at least of
the former are about one-half Of those
charged by the latter. -,4ga. s..s..4
| When Alr, RagIand made his application
to Mr.. Robinson he supposed that the latter
had advertised to transport cotton to Bal
limore at % cents per hundred pounds. 1t
is true that this was mistake, but RaSiand
so thought. His application was for the
Fredericksburg road to carry cotton at siX-
tenthS of cent per bale per mile, while he
on bis own road was charging nearly four
times as much. He asked MIR. Robinson to
transport cotton more than 100 miles at %
cents per hundred pounds when he was
charging % cents per hundred for G3 miles.
i do not care 10 look into the
| ! PAST HISTORY OF THESE TWO ROADS
except for the purpose of illuminating the
present; and therefore | do not bring before
the committee the transactions to which |
am about to refer merely to exhibit the
bad faith of the Petersburg road in 1876,
! but RATHER to show that the present con-
troversy is by no means a new one. /
further desire to show what is the
lesson taught by the wisdom of the past.
1t is within the knowledge Of this COM
mittee that in past times there was Il cOmpc-
tition between this inner and this outer line.
1t is also well known that under that COM
/ I,,tl 4, of 4 fbo,,,
to such degree that il went into Insolvency.
A combination was made before 1876 on the
part OF the various roads constituting this
inland line for the purpose of establishing a
successful opposition, particularly with re-
ference to passengers to the outer line. 1t
was made the sul.iect-matter of investigation
before cohmittce Of the Legislature in
1S4G-4T, and THE testimony that was taken
in that case is very interesting. I refer
the committee to 1t, and | hope they will
have recourse to this document when they
come to decide this question. 1t is docu-
mcnt No. A of the Legislature-documcnts
Of the year 1S4G-4T. Here is letter that
was addressed by George W.Munford to the
Board of Public Works OH the 1st Of July,
1916, he having been the representative of
the stock Of the Commonwealth in the Fred
ericksburS road. On the Slst of July. 1916,
lie addressed the following letter to the
Board of Public Works
"The Board OF Public Works having
honored nc for some years past by appoint
ing me one Of the directors of the State in
tne Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac
Railroad Company, feel it my duty to bring
4 to their notice circumstances connected with
that company materially affecting the States
interest, and which think the intcrposition
of the Board may prevont. 1t IS known to
the Board that while the Portsmouth and
Roanoke Railroad Company was in opera
tion a destructive compel ton existed be-
tween that company and the com Danics con-
stituting the inland route between Weldon
and Washington. In this competition all
] the companies north Of Petersburg united
with tn: Petersburg Railroad Company to
attract the trade and travel upon their line,
aud to divert it from the Portsmouth and
Roanoke railroad. Whatever reduction of
fare the Petersburg Company desired, the
other companies Immediately accedcd
to, and the whole fare WIS divided
between ull the companies in pursuance of
an award BY arbtrators mutually selected.
The cooperation of all the companies was
obtained from The confident belief that the
pccnnidry interests of the State as well rs of
individual stockholders in the upper comps
nies would be ultimately benefited, notwitll-
standing the destruction of the Portsmouth
road. and under the firm conviction that all
the companies would harmoniously co0pe-
rate to attract the travel to the inland line.
Under these circumstances the competition
, was successful, and the Portsmouth road
has for the present been suppressed. But
no, sooner is this result brought about,
, though the State and the private stockhold-
:, ers were all the time subjected to great loss,
than another competition more injurious
, than the tirst.is commenced, and which. II
continued, will produce incalculable loss to
the State. .-...,.g.
"From causes which it is not necessary here
to enulncratc (resuting chiefly from disa-
greenent between the Petersburg and Rich.
mond and Fredericksburg Railroad Compl.
y, MICS on the subject Of division OF fare on
the through traveD an unharmonious feeling
; was cngendercd between them, which it was
hoped would bc corrected by 4 reference o
the subjects of difference to the Board Of
Public Works. This reference, which was
made ut the instance of the Petersburg Com
; pany in the first place, was agreed to by al
the parties. But it is known 10 the BoarC
) flat as soon as the Portsmouth cars ceased
running the Petersburg Railroad Company
withdrew from their arbitration and stopped
the issue of through tickets in connection
with the companies Of the inland route. II
is also known to the Board Of Public Works
that there exists line of steamers which
DIy between Baltimore and Norfolk, and
which connect with boats running NJ
james river to City Point. and Rich
mond, and that this line is the same
which formerly connected with the