The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-05-10
D1sca1M1NAT1oH IN rRH1aHrs.

Mr.. Orr presented: the Memorial of the
Anderson Board of Trade in the House of
Representatives On last Thursday, daking.
for legislation upen the subject Of unjust
Determinations by railroads, and it was re-
ferred to the Committee on Railroads, with
instructions, to report "A bill to equAliae
freights. We have so repeatedly expressed
our views upon this subject that it is scarce
ly necessary for us to signify appreciation of
this measure. The present abominable sys-
tenn of adding to intermediate points sufi-;
cient amount to pay for the low. rates
necessitated to points ct which there is COM.
petition, has. been practiced by the South
Carolina Road to such q. tyrannical extent
that the Legislature owes it to the people of
the whole State to put an end to it as speedi-
ly as possible. This road, controlling as it
does the Greenville and Columbia and the
Blue Ridge Railroads, has by its short sight
ed course injured many portions of the,
State, and that too, as we believe, without
receiving commensurate reward for itself.
BY making freigbts high to intermediate
points and low to Greenville, they have
driven large quantities of trade to that city
and points along the Air Line Railroad.
The greater portion of goods sold in Green
vile and Spartanburg are carried over the
Air Line, which is the direct and natural
shipping route at those points to or from
the North or West, and the South Carolina
Road ought to have foreseen that it could
not hope to carry the freights of points sit
uated like these. Hence it was clearly their
policy to give cheap rates to intermediate
points where they have the entire carrying
trade, and by building up large business
in these towns secure tho transportation Of
an equally large amount of Heights. But
instead Of this they have waged war on in
termediate towns by placing an enormously
high tariff upon all freights, thereby forcing
the trade from these places to Greenyille
and Spartanburg where the Air Line sup
plies the greater part Of their freights. The
result Is that Greenville and spartanburg,
are being built up while Anderson, Able:
vile, Union and such points are being in
jured. 80
Another point of view, worthy Of consid-
Grafton, is that trade is driven away from
Charleston to Atlanta and the North by
this contracted policy, for it Is the smaller
towns in the State which have been the best
patrons Of our own "city by the sea-" while
the merchants of Greenville and Spartan
burg generally buy further from home.
Hence, when trade is driven from these
smaller towns to points on the Air Line,
the business of Charleston is Of course in
jured to that extent. We do not believe we
make mistake in saying that the conduct
of the South Carolina Road has injured
Charleston and many other points in South
Carolina immensely. 1t is just one of those
cases where legislative interference is needed,
and we trust the time has arrived when
Carolina has a General Assembly that is
patriotic and firm enough to apply the
remedy which has so long been needed to
protect all sections Ct our State from further
injury at the hands Of an unfeeling and
oppressive monopoly