The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1873-01-29
WEDNESDAY EvEN'G, JAN. 30, 1873
The Railroad Controversy.

connection with the same ownership OF the llnes
north and south of the state.-o@ro '""pe he
Otid, CT
So the people of New Jersey thought, =
or claimed to think, for years and years, y y
under the oppressive monopoly that SO :;
long disgraced that State and made it the :,
lest and by-word of the railroad world. n
We have, personally, very high respect +
for'tte distinguished gentleman whose card
appears in The Enquirenef this morning,an h
would rather consider his position, as indi- Il Il
Gated above, to be that Of q paid attorney t
than an enlightened and progressive citizen. !
That he is wrong about such " breaks" !
in the continuous lines Of railway in j
this State, or any other, must be clear to
his own mind, if he will direct his attention !
but briefly to the history Of those roads in {
which such breaks" as he speaks of
have been effectually broken. No city can
be built up on any such principle as these
breaks would imply or encourage. LAS
Philadelphia been injured by breaking the
ssbreak'' which she so long and fool
ishly persisted in maintaining? Has
the city of Erie been otherwise
damaged by it than in the very bad pre-
eminence which her great "break war"
years ago gave her? Has Baltimore been
retarded in her growth and material pros
perlty since through cars have taken the |
place of her old numbering omnibuses
Will the interests of Richmond be in any
possible manner subserved by "break,"
either in ownership or connection, upon
any line Of railroad now existing or
hereafter to exist, and passing through
her municipal borders? We think not
and it seems marvel to us that any
gentleman of high intelligence should
think differently from what we do.
If Richmond is ever to reach the high
and commanding position of commercial
and manufacturing prosperity to which she
may hopefully aspire, her ambitious pur-
poses will not be attained by throwing
stumbling blocks in the way of any pro-
gressive prosperity that may be sought by
other, and possibly more favored, localities.
She must accommodate herself to the in
flexible laws that govern all human traffic,
and, not to those of the thieving Rodentias
that seek to hoard nuts, not by legltimately
picking them off the trees, but by stealing
them from their more industrious and
provident neighbors. The trade and indus
try that will build her up must be that
which legitimately comes to her by reason
of geographical position and the COM
nanding intelligence that shall guide her
citizen councils in respect to the true com
mercial policy of her people. No stun
bling blocks IN the way Of others will dc
it, nor will any such dog-in-the-mangel
policy as that requiring breaks " in thu
management or connection of railroad
enterprises in our State. These arr
things demanded only by the old fossilizee
ideas that were long ago exploded and
buried out of sight in other and NOR
commandingly prosperous states. W
hardly believe that our distinguish
townsman would consent to father any sue
"old fogyism" as this particular Oul
fogyism would seem to imply. For
the prosperity of Richmond-the pride {
Judge Ould, as he himself is of the city
demands any such "break" as that referre
to, why may not Fredericksburg, Stauntol
Gordonsvile, and every other town in IL
State through which railroad now passe
or may hereafter pass, demand the san
element of local prosperity and advanc
ment ? The argument is just as good al
potential for any one Of these towns
for Richmond, and just as potential 4
Richmond as for the State itself, no mo
so nor no less, 10 fact.
When the New York Central Railroi
was under some half q dozen differe
managements, and as many " breaks
were conveniently effected by the failu
of conductors to run on time, the CHI
inland cities along the line of that gre
thoroughfare evinced no greater prospect
than when the road was brought under
single efficient control and managemer
On the contrary, each of them seemed
take new upward start when the con
nuity of the road was unbroken and tn
were left to the natural laws of traffic q
advantageous position, such as must g
cru Ill lOCdllllCo, hONSNCI
unfavorably situated. This great tru
was not more clearly demonstrated by I
consolidated interests Of the New 70
Central than in the case of the celebrat
"Erie War;" which drew upon that city
universal disgust and anathema of
whole country. No man travelling thror
that part of the State would buy pint
peanuts of any Erie huckster if he W
starving to death for the want Of pull
patronage, 50 supremely contemplate
that city made itself by demanding tn
"breaks" in the continuity of railrt
management. While this war was k
up, in defiance of the laws we have refer
to, Erie was deader than door-n
showing no signs of life or general activ
But the opening up of the great oil ind
try of the country, which brought to
city, by reason Of its natural posti
the chief traffic in that important a
r fha r1aoa fonG