The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-02-27


her people
Let Va look at this feature of the case
for moment. 1t is estimated that the
road-a narrow guage-wi1 cost five
thousand dollars per mile. The distance
through the State is about three hundred
miles. The whole road, then, with its
equipments, by utilizing the labor of the
Penitentiary, will cost about one million
FIVE hundred thousand dollars. II will
not be denied by any rejecting man that
the road completed would virtually re-
claim and throw into the market at least
a million acres of land, now absolutely
non-product;ve, and from which no reve-
nue. is drawn. The road would fix upon
these lands an average valuation of-.et
US say-fve dollars per acre. Here are
| five millions, more than three times the
cost of the road, without going any
further. But this is really one of the
smaller items in the calculation of ad
vantages.
Glance along the railway lines upon
our Eastern and Western borders. OBJ
serve the towns of Osyka, McComb
City, Summit, Brookhaven, Wessen,
Beauregard, Walden, &C., upon the
Eastern line, and Waynesboro,
Sbubuta, Enterprise, Meridian, West
Point, Okolona, &c, upon the
western, ali built up from the foundation
stone to the comb of the roof by the rails
roads, and then take out your pencil and
cipher up the problem.
You will find on both lines that about
every ten miles there is a town locat'
| ed, brought out, and developed by these
roads, which upon an average Is worth
about two hundred thousand dollars each
and paws State taxes upon that amount
of property. Each line has about three
hundred miles running through our bor-
ders, or both together, six hundred
miles. Now, divide six hundred by fen
and multiply the quotient by two hun
bred thousand dollars, and you will have
twelve millions of property, which these
roads have developed, from this one
source alone, yielding an annual revenue
to the State of sixty thousand dollars at
the rate of five per thousand. Besides
this, these six hundred miles of railway
now pay direct tax of seventy-five dol
lars per mile, or forty five thousand dol
lars from this source. Then we might
safely add another important item i'll the
enhancement of the value of land con-
tguous to their lines. Altogether it is
not an extravagant estimate to say that
these two great lines of railway will in
the future bring into the State Treasury
directly and indirectly, over hundred
thousand dollars annually, which it
would never see if they did not exist.
Why, our railroads are big thing for
the State, to say nothing of private for
tunes and incorporated manufactures
which they have been the means Of
building up. Wesson factory alone,
brings into the State a quarter of a mil
lion dollars year. This enterprise alone
has added large taxable prop
erty to the State, and owes its existence
entirely to the railroad. The amount of
pine timber manufactured and shipped to
the Nc-.h and Weat Is another ..aI.-.4>le4
interest which they have evolved, by and
through which employment is given TO
thousands of our laborers, aud stream
of money brought into the State, Then
the thrifty husbandman is furnished
boundless market for the fruits, vegeta
bles, ETC., for which many sections OF our
favored soil are so well adapted, thus
utilizing many productions and bringing
large incomes which would be forever
lost but for the railroads.
Guided by the demonstrated results of
these railway lines we can approximate
fair estimate Of the value to the State
and her people, of the Ship Island, Rip,
lev and kentucky Railroad.
This road enters our northern borders
in Tippah county, and pursues nearly an
air line through the middle of the State,
giving its benefits to Tippah, Union,
Pontotoc, Calhoun, ChickasAw, Winston,
Neshoba, Leake, Newton, Scott, Smith,
Jasper, Covington, Jones, Perry, Marion,
and Harrison counties, thus penetrating
he very heart of our State, and giving
life, vitality and vigor to belt through
nearly the entire parallogram of terrific
y embraced in the State, now cut off
rom railroad facilities The idea that it
starts from nowhere and goes nowhere is
imply absurd. 1t starts from the best
larbor upon the entire Gulf coast,
point which nature has marked and
,iven all the requisites for great sea
bort city. 1t pierces a section altogether
IS favored as that through which either
# the completed lines run. 1t reaches
Tenn, the land of the &C.
eals, the land of thrift, plenty, and en-
erprise, and opens the artery for the
urrent of life-blood of the whole nation
o flow into. 1t brings us at once into
intimate relationship with the internal
ommerce of the nation, and gives to our
wn sea board better facilities for the
iulf trade than are enjoyed by Mobile
r New Orleans.
We submit as moderate estimate of
he value of this road
me million acres of waste land,
now worthless, reclaimed and
made worth SIS per acre.. 100000
owns and factories built up
through its instrumentality - 100000 !
On i