Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1874-10-03
CIIEAr TRANSFORMATION

atAtAG EiNptIllou 10 NIlBlual NAluCrt hlu
that shall not operate to the robbery oi
either the producer or consumer. With
railroad system permesting every
State, with great inland seas and rivers
that are permanent and for the most
part unob>tructed highways, the rates
Of freight have gone on increasing until
they amount to an exactiOn, and in some
places to a prohibition Of trade, CON-
merce, or barter at anything like profit
20 TIE producer. Railroads like the New
York and Erie, the New York Central,
the Baltimore and Ohio, and the Penn
syivania Central, increase their facili-
ties for transportation, and companies
organized for freights alone make special
endeavors for cheap transit, and yet the
great fact remains that with markets TO
supply snd a magnificent soil and cli-
mate for production, farming is not re-
munerstive, does not make the returns
that other avOcations do, and for
want of-chesp transportation. Bal
umore, Philadelphia aud BOs-
ton have become great centers
Of transatlantic trade in compe-
tltion with New York, and even Mon
treal for six months in the year makes
special, and so far profitable, endeav-
or in the same direction; and Norfolk,
Charleston, Savannah and New Orleans,
also and yet the cry goes up for chesp
transportation. Do what railroad men
may, and say what they will, they have
not yet been able TO meet the wants OF
the people. And il We are to believe
Mr.. McHenry, himself q practical rail-
road operator Of large experience, it is
because thst after forty years Of effort
even so smart, alert and intelli-
gent fraternity hss not yet arrived at
full and complete knowledge Of the
possibilities Of railroads in freight and
passenger traffic. And we incline to
the belief that Mr.. McHenry is right
indeed, we do not see how we can think
otherwise, in view Of the explanations
he gives snd which wepublisb in snoth-
er column. But this, Notwithstanding,
We do not believe the railroads are Who'll
ly TO blame. The merchants must "tote"
little Of il, for it Is well known, that
in some instances, the handling of
freights demands greater and
grosser toll in the total than the
railroads exact for freights. A
case in point-a confession-comes
TO hand in the announcement Of the
new rates adopted by the Shipowners'
and Agents association, and the cotton
press owners Of New Orleans, which are
Tor the current commercial yesr fifty
five cents per bale for COAST wise ship |
ments and sixty-five cents for foreign, |
showing a reduction OF about one-third |
from the average Of last years sliding /
rate, the foreign rate being applicable
20 both direct shipments and shipments |
Ui0 Atlantic ports. 1t is claimed this /
viii be q saving Of four hundred and
thirty-eight thousand dollars on last |
years shipments, and it is hoped to do |
mesh to recover the diversion over in \
terror routes, which, with the short crop, |
Is estimated at over one hundred 1
Thousand bales. This simple fact 1
speaks louder than words, and /
proves that the Handling classes" have
obligations in the direction OF cheap
freights as well as the railroads. And
we may be permitted to observe, right
here, that it is the observance Of these
obligations by the 'cotton.handIing
classn in Memphis that has secured to
her the supremacy she enjoys as the
third cotton market in the Union, and
the first interior cotton mart Of the
world. But, returning TO our mutton
while the railroads may double their )
facilities, and union depOts may be
built tJ Obviate the tariff Of city trans s
portati0n, and pressmen and shedmen &
may reduce their tolls to a bare living
rate, still production will pass them and !
the cry for cheap transportation be 1
heard a. loud as ever, unless We return,
especially here in the Mississippi valley,
20 the use Of our great rivers, and by /,
conveys and barges successfully COM I
pete with railroad transportation, and {
so compel a reduction OF freight rates. |
Who that remembers the steamboat ,
business before the war and now strolls /
along the often comparatively idle leyees s
Of all our river cities and towns, but
can see that it is the direction given to !
traffic from the west 10 the east during /
the late civil war that has brought about 7
the consequences We all deplore as dis :
sstrous to the producers Of this section.
A paragraph from the Nashville Onion Z
and AmonoaR illustrates our meaning,
and tells a story that all who desire
cheap transportation would do well 10
ponder. That paper says:
The following j. a coEapIete and cor
rect Aat Of The names and respec i've tonnage c
Of the nine steamers that nov comprise tie a
snm total OF The river interest Of Nashville: a
lsau. a Davis, % tons shipper own, So u
.nlsi Lddyyllle, ~ tons; John :. BransfOrd, ,
lll tons; r, u. Cooke 81 tons; Burksviile, 10 v
tons; George s. Linuey, 100 tons: Aid No p l II
., tons Arch p. Green 81 tons, max ing accord ,
Io the custOmuCuse admeasurement The p
lra gnf rauaeffy OF an steam foafs srDof,r 81 n
llly -ei9 tons. Alas, in these degenerate dayg "
lf river trade We have no Nashville. Scotland n
Hum bold, Red Rover james johnson nor p
ames W Gods Of the good old a -fs bsIitEa time y
ghen our marine Interests nourished. Il
We, TOO, might ask where are the
ines Of packets that once were the glory
1f our commerce, and where the river J
rattle that before We had q railroad
promised 10 make Of Memphis all that
.he has become through railroads. The
lrgeut entIeaties, then, that have gone I
lp 20 congress for river improvement,
md the remarks We publish elsewhere a
rom Governor Porter on cheap trans !,
are efforts in the right Gi-ec- q
ion, efforts that should be pressed with $,
zeal until their contamination brings 10 :,
Is the relief we never can otherwise >
l0pe for. Until the Federal govern I,
nent answers our demands in that y
Erection we must do all we can for our y
elves by reform In railroad manage q
neut, the curtsilment Of the expense Of Il
.audliug freights, but especially by the a a
tablishment and encouragement OF a
liver transportation, too long neglected. n
The river is our main artery Of trade, p
nd il alone can furnish present and
,ermapent relief from ruling high rates
{ freight. We say this without dis %
Of the railrOads-fOr we are
1nscious Of the benefactions they e,l
ave conferred and are confer 10
ing upon us-and solely in the u
interest OF producer and consumer, and a. a.
q the spirit Of 'Iive and let live" that n
the basis of fair play. The question %
{ the day, and one that sorely presses e,