The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-01-03
rR1DA JANUARY 3, 1873.
Communicated. J
A Railroad Kshnfael.

There is Il certain malign Influence ut work
in Virginia which seeks to interrupt every
scheme of public Improvement whose pro-
ircior> will not pay tribute TO its own selfish
! and arrogant desires.
II i> railway IShmac-an iil-humored
| rapaciou>. >mrp>h malcontcnt-that,h having
,rrri,c,l aid far beyond its merit. and ac-
ynmr,i>hrd results far beneath its oppor-
muiir>. haS not yet realized the chief cause
oi lis comparative failures. nor correctly
measured the cost Of combating every other
railroad interest in the state OF Virginia.
| one would have thought that experience
would lend a >cmhlancc ol wisdom 10 the
| most aggressive of Arabs; but it seems that
This nr,.narir,> pofcntatc remembers nothing
| in fine past and learns nothing for the future.
Irs oh.,inorv j. Bourbon--itS ambition is
! Radical.
| Not content. as we have said, with having
| obtained from the State of Virginia such
privileges lis no chartered corporation ever
asked from Il Lc~iSlature-not satisfied with
having secured such Il release from debt, such
| a poslponCmcut of obligation, such nj en-
ar-cmcnt ct credit n no railroad company
| ever obtained in Amcrica.--thiS pct play
| thing Of the Commonwealth must needs
crow >aucv with the f;lvorS it has had. and
arrogatc 10 itself the privilege Of absolutely
controlling the people whose means it has
| Conti>rltcd.
| pampcrcd with special benefits. it would
| deny TO every one else the most ordinary op-
portunitieS. Owing its existence to releases
| bN cities and State Of overwhelming mort
gage. ii opposes. in the tone of dictator,
all humble applicants who seek from Nir-
-inia the simple authority TO spend private
| funds in iurthcrancc OF other public improve
mcntS. 1t opposed the Shenandoah Valley
| road: il bitterly fought the legislation by
/ which the Chesapeake and Ohio Company
has been enabled to join Cincinnati TO Rich
, mond: il antagonized the Washington and
pospuac line. on which all trade and
travel between Virginia and the North
has dcprndcd for the last fortnight; it
, opposed The charter of rail route from
u Richmond to Wa>hiugton; it threw ice
water on tie Norfolk and Great Western
scheme: il sought TO cStinguish the Orange
- aud Alexandria linc il damned the Lynch
. lnirg and I,anville connection. In short, it
has thrust il tentative nose into everybody
. rI>e> pe-mcdding somewhat in party poll
. ties, and helping 40 little TO muddle State
finances in the mean timc-vntil Il disinter-
= ,.>tcd observer might well be excused for in-
curing whether General Mahunc was pre>i-
dent Of the Atlantic. Mississippi and Ohio
Railroad Company or wct-nursc and guardian
l,lcniputcnti&ry for the state at large,
| Indeed, there are more reasons than those
which have been limited ut for calling the
attention OF this company to the place
whore curses come to roost. Results would
seem to indicat" that some of the time and
money 50 generously expended on the buSi,
ness OF other folks might very we'll have
/, been cmpoycdat home. Mr.. BoCOck, chair
man of the recent stockholders meeting a,
: Norfolk, frankly confessed that there wa,
much in the past management OF the road tC
cXcitcapprchrn>icn."
To what the honorable gentleman particu
lagly alluded do not know; hut il may bt
that across his active brain flashed the
thought OF things done which ought moi
10 liyr been done, and, IL Il consequence
III thugs lett undone that ought to have
hccn DONE Perhaps Mr.. Eocock mu>e(
oh the Cumberland Gap continuation an(
imagined that it would have been better tt
push that. than t. make headquarters ii
Richmond since 1870. Perhaps Mr. Bucocl
had visions OF promises di>rc"ardcd, of {
"jaorniu" system aunullcd, of "Nirgini;
Iwlicv' east 10 the winds, of "cMlrtcrct
conditions" unfulilIcd. OF loall> not ncSo
tatrd, and OF ftr-of but sure coming pa,
day. Who can say? But whatever ma,
cave been the immediate root ui Mr.. 30
cock remarks il is safe 10 observe that ther
. ! S"lur cur>c Tor unelSincsS; and run lit
III" !i>k il; promising That the Atlantic
Mississippi and ohio Company h;ls yer.
pressing matters OF its own to be looked
after.
The line has a great work before it unles
: the energies of its management be frlttere(
, away in callSrlr>s combatS. 70 what goot
end has it heretofore antagoniZed every Nir
!,inia Schcin" of railway progress? Th'
world has moved in spite of it. Every char
ter it opposed has been granted. Every roaC
it battlcd against is built. or being built
, Even the proud will of IFS directors has hat
TO lend before stern fact and material re
; suits have made rs strange bCdfclowS us eve
did Pcirpnintian politics.
| Who would have thought it! The rhast,
NirEinian vc>tal of 1856 costly cuddling will
the Baltimore ogre. John Garrett: the rail
| road saviour Of SOutilSidc Virginia i'm Iowa
league with John Robinson; the great IN
ain - of consolidation hobnobbins with th
"torcign inyadcrs."
The mutual opinion which these now firm
allies expressed of each other Il few year
ago, may serve to refresh the public memory
and also to determine the sincerity witt
which General Malone drnounces lin tn
bc,iunngl all new enterprises.
4 CuNSoLIDATIOSIST.