The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1878-06-13


Interview as 20 the Texas ana Pacific
Railread. 49,
four WASHINGTON. CORRESPONDENT AND Ex-
GOVERNOR BROWN
J. Il. WASHINGTON, D. G., June 10, 1873.
Ex-Governor John G. Brown, OF Ten
nessee, is yice-president OF the Texas and
Pacific Company, and for two years past
has represented the interests at Washing
ton of that enterprise, which Alexander
n. Stephens declares the .sgreatest enter
prise OF the century, and which that far
seeing pubIicist likewise declares Will " do
more for the South than sall other agencies
combined 1t is this same enterprise that
Lamar spoke for so powerfully and elo-
quently few days ago; that senators
Wi.hers, Ransom, Hill, Butler, Coke,
Maxey, Eustis, Beck, McCreery, Garland,
Bailey, Harris, Armstrong, and Cockerill-
all southern Democrats-earnestly support,
and which has so far been assaulted in the
Senate by but one southern Democrat, and
that is Judge Johnston, OF Virginia.
Governor Brown Is fit associate for the
greatest OF these southern leaders in the
promotion OF a measure whose success Or
defeat in Congress will determine for
score Of years to come the ability OF the
South to: secure Federal aid for that section
which has been so neglected, while the
North has had poured into its ever-open
lap the riches Of the Federal Treasury. The
peer in intellect and character Of any Of our
representative men, Governor Brown is also
q symbol OF the high southern manhood and
devotion which were illustrated on so many
bloody fields of the late war. The end of
the war found him one OF the most distin-
guished division commanders in the Con-
feGeracy, and five years afterwards re-
deemed Tennessee selected him as her
Governor by forty thousand MAORI
ty. He is OF the type Of men that are
rarely found out OF the South, and are most
generally the products of Virginia, the Blue
Grass region Of Kentucky, or that fine Sec
ton Of Tennessee ofThich Governor Brown
is q native. His fine physique is powerfully
auxiliary to bis robust and vigorous mind
in the ensemble of the impression that he
makes upon those who seek his society upon
business or other errands. His connection
with the Texas and Pacific enterprise is it.
self title to confidence in its wisdom and
integrity quite equal to the endorsement OF
that measure by southern leaders in Con-
gress, as well as by Jefferson Davis, r. u.
II. Hunter, and the most eminent OF south
ern statesmen now in retirement.
AS I was courteously and agreeably re-
ceived by Governor Brown few days
since. felt the truth Of the characteriza-
ton of him by a Virginian, who. on being
introduced recently. said 81 shall support.
anything that man advocates. No man with
an eye and face like that ever went wrong
an hour at a time"
Governor Brown favored me with rapid
~ fhn nrnvisiOnc nj the iI1y1c
and Pacific bill as reported to Congress.
He declared it to be measure honest in its
every purpose and detail. "1f," said he,
"the South cannot unite upon this mea-
sure, and thus uniting, command support
enough from the North to pass 1t. shall
DESPAIR OF any great material progress
for our section during this generation at
least. have given my most laborlous en-
deayor 10 the perfection Of our bill. have
sought the counsel Of the first intellects OF
the South, some OF them gentlemen whom
our people have trusted for forty years, and
| do not hesitate TO say that bill fairer TO
the Federal Government, and more prom
ising of benefit to the whole country, and
to the South especially, cannot be devised
bv any intelligence that have been able to
consult. I regard the fate Of this bill as
test question. We cannot develop the South
without Government aid, and il we cannot
get the moderate aid we ask now, when is
it likely that the South can come before
Congress with reasonable hope OF SUGGEST
Q. Did the postponement OF your bill
until December meet your appreciation
"A. Oh, yes; we were sure OF success IN
the Senate, and reasonably confident OF the
action Of the House. Our enemies will in
eyitably 60 to the wall in debate upon the
r>1r RI with tho o.
rious shams and subterfuges with which
Huntington delays its passage. We eX-
Dected great accession Of strength in the
House from the debates in the Senate, and
we have powerful advocates in the House
such men as Goode of Virginia, House OF
Tennessee, Throckmorton; Stephens and
FELTON, of Georgia, and others. Still, it be-
came a question whether we should force
the passage OF our bill at the expense OF
necessary public legislation, and our sup
porters in the Senate advocated the post
ponement.
@. You speak OF Huntington as offering
impedments to the passage Of your bill.
Is he your only foe?
A. mean that Huntington is most inter-
ested in our defeat, and that about him
centre all the odds and ends OF opposition
to the Texas and Pacitic-an opposition
based upon various motives, generally,
however, petty local interests, and in some
instances motives of personal aggrandlZe-
ment. Huntington fights the Texas and
Pacific because it breaks up his monopoly,
which letters the commerce OF the clvlllzcd
world and actually ensayes the business
of the Pacific coast. The Texas and
Pacific bill contemplates an independ-
cnt competing line, and that would be
fatal to Huntington's monopoly. AS he has
the money to furnish the sinews OF war he
naturally attracts to him all the riff-raft OF
opposition to us. l am sorry to say that IN
n very few instances southern men nave
lent themselves to his devices to defeat a mea-
sure that would liberate the commerce Of
the continent, and give the South pros
perity she has never known before. But
can hardly hope to state the subject any
better than the Dispatch has done. The
reader should be thoroughly educated
as to the salient points OF this contro-
versy. The Dispatch has repeatedly
shown the unanswerable grounds Of its
advocacy OF the Texas and Pacific. Those
grounds are that the country needs an
independent, competing line; that the
new line should be constructed through re-
sions Offering advantages OF soil and CHI
mate, as well as distance, thus receiving
certainty and speed OF transportation and
passage not offered by the existing line;
and that the South is entitled to lis road to
the Pacific, as other sections have theirs,
and as was intended by the pioneers in Pa
cific-railroad legislation. All these ends
are met by the Texas and Pacific measure,
and meanwhile no subsidy is asked (al'
though millions were given to Huntington
and bis associates to build their line), but
,norelv a moderate loan Of Government