The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-13

| 60 over the paths which my money ond my
brains have built, for have blocked and
damned every channc! OF water con,muni.
cation, aud here only can Richmond and Pc
| tcrsburg find an outlet Aud then when we
| say let us go over your Richmond, Frede-
| rtcksburg and Potomac railroad, he says no.
thank my friends for again tonight bring
ing out the fact that when, on the a15t of
November. 1872. Reuben Ragland asked
john NJ. Robinson whether he would carry
his cotton over the Richmond, Fredericks.
burg and Potomac railroad from points be-
you'd Weldon, when ii was not convenient to
| carry il l'y City Point, Mr.. Robinson replied
no. Will not carry it at all cit is not the
proper channcl."
An rnE STATE AND WELDON IS NY PROVINCE.
How dare you have the audacity to bring
your cotton beyond Weldon and ask me to
carry it; don't you know this is not the pro-
per channel? Mr. RaGland is an apprentice
nj The railroad business, as he has told you
himself, while Mr.. Robinson has been in the
business all his life, and we eau we'll imagine
therefore the disdain felt, but not expressed
(tor Mr. Robinson is polite gentlenan),
when Mr.. RaGland had the tcmcrity to ask
hl'n TO carry his cotton. No, sir; you must
go by Weldon and Portsmouth, nrAl allow
Mr.. Eagand. don't ask for reduced rates :;
| don't ask Soh to take off anything, or to
make specific contract; if you will carry 1t,
| Will pay you your regular printed tariff
charges. Mr.. Robinson answers No Ihure
no tariff upon cotton from those points.
This was what be said then. he can make
enough promises now, and will TO the end
OF the session OF the General Assembly.
ct,
The devil got well, and devil sai0t was he."
As J said, before large and intelligent as
sclnily at Fredericksburg q few nights ago,
TUE PROMISE OF A RAILROAD NAN
is not worth the brcath he expends to Mt.
ter it.
aIr, Daniel I cannot let that remark pass
without denying it emphatically, especially
as the gentleman said it while looking directly
1T me.
Mr.. Lyon: I meant nothing personal
| whatever, but repeat the rcnark that the
promises Of railroad men arc not worth the
breath expended to utter them. Their in
tercst is tueir duty to the public; and When
they follow the path Of Interest they follow
The path OF duty. If railroad president
makes promise in the way Of the stock
holders, aud is inclined to keep it in the face
of thcir will, he is removed and another man
put in.
sIr. Daniel again protested that such re-
marks seemed personal.
The Chairman said the gentleman speak
ing (Ar. Lyon) must net DC interrupted
vi hout hiS permission.
AIr. LYON: repeat that I make no per-
Sonal reflections. hut l lic;sa lny remarks
to apply to Tom Scott, Reuben Eagkand,
-. Ia, ...r Vl,,Y
personal promise OF king conflicts With The
interests of lis sui jccts il is not worth the
paper il IS written Oh. 1t was SO with the
grand treaty Of 1915, and the world is iuil Of
c\i.tnceS that where nicn Happen to t'c in a
public place, and III them are rcposed The
pl!li: Interests they are mere figure beads,
though there 10 q Eation at their buck
It i, the interest Of the railroad tii;it
8 president represents; the president dies
| but the railroad lives. 4 president promises
and his Sucree&ni iliodiEes the promise. The
| luc Of duty aud Ehr line Of interest conlrcl.
There is 10 tic TO bind a railroad man TO any
obligation but the tie OF interest ana the
| law; and the statesman who bases legislation
| upon any railroad mans promise, and who
docs not study these great interests in the
light Of entities outside OF intlividualities.
will iiEd his legislation imperfect aud the re-
suits anticipated, not realized. l give Mr..
Robinson credit for ability and devotion 10
duty. and / coHredc that lie is not exorb;-
Sav that il Is one Of the necessities of his
situation, which, even with lis brain, he
cannot avoid.
Here i the toaSn!quet upon the vein of
the AUp2nattoS river, upon The artery Gi
4 l;n pf hn Va ri.
river aud all ilnmoyahle obstruction upoli
the railroad which rrus from Richmond
through Fredericksburg.
WHY ARE THESE DISTRACTIONS HERE?
and what is their effect! 1t is TO dam back
tue whole stream OF commerce 10 Weldon to
Nr. Roi.in5on'S channel and to rlrry 1t from
Weldon 10 pHrts.io,;th, and thence ty your
door, Mir. Chairman, out beyond Virginia.
DO quarrel with Mr.. Robinson? DO | re-
| huke bin? Am amazed at the magnificent
salary paid E:n for his services there? Am
| ! surprised that he has to pay out part OF
the salary received here to employ otrr lIclI
| 10 discharge his duties on the FTcdcrickS-
burg road? Where tie treasure is, there
i the heart, and there is the brain, the
thought, the mind. l. it strange that Mr..
john NJ. Robinson, in his Baltimore office,
thinks four times OF the Bay Line for one
thought hc gives to tue Richmond, Fredc-
richshur% and Potomac route? lie ought to
| think four tines As much of it, for bis salary
there is four times Is great rs here
| Now, what do we w;;nt? While we do
not blame tie mcu controlling the Richmond.
Fredericksburg and Potomac road,-ror the
president but executes their will, purpose.
and policy, and guarus their Interests and |
honor Tim for il-what will be thought Q!
tue legislator, tic representative VI the peo-
pic and of the public interests, who eau
sleep Il single night with the knowledge that
| he had left in the hands of one nEln
| so FEARFUL A POWER.
Power is good thing in wise hundS; in-
spircd by virtllOuS hearts il is useful thing
1t may Ge that q Car. an autocrlt, may
make people happier than any republic
that the world ever saw. The piice OF
liberty is eternal vigilance, but it is not vigi-
lance simply to seek for coed intentions and
wise lucubrations from the man who hap
pens to hold power. We must prevent toe
much power from ever getting into any one
hand. Ii tie President Of the Richmond
Fredericksburg and Potomac railroad were
the man to will it, lie has the power 10 break
up the commerce Of Richmond and Pete!s
burg. MEX BidGlp, with bis hand on the
very heart of the national currency, in ole
times, never had greater power on larger
scale than Dir. Robinson has here over tie
commerce OF Eastern Virginia.
Eetween these two poiptS-We!don and
| Ba!tu4orc-I i.arc exhausted all possible
channels ol communication except one; tic
route from Richmond by the Chesapeake and
Ohio, aud Orange, Alexandria and Manassas
railroads to AleNlndria, TO which, for OBJ