Louisiana capitolian., 1880-08-28
RAILROAD TO BATON ROUGE.

"N W. "" AhoV'sJ} '''
the following article to the Herald OF
that place. II is full OF practical sug-
gestions, which are Of immense inn
portance to our people, aud we invite
their thoughtful consideration Of the
subject;
Now that Baton Rouge is the point
fixed for the eastern terminus OF the
New Orleans and Pacific railroad to
connect with that city by II road d.
rect from Baton Rouge along the east
bank Of the Mississippi river, and
whereas, Mcssrs. Lyons Il Pipes,
owners of tho Clinton and Port Hud-
son road, have declared their purpose
to at once run their road from Mid
way to that city, QBaton Rouge), the
time has arrived for the people OF
East Felicianaparish and Amite coun-
ty, Miss, to take immediate steps to
secure IN extension of heClinton and
Port Hudson road to Liberty. The
people of this county need rs much as
they need anything in the world, q
railroad for the development of their
resources and the facilities it will af-
tord them Of getting their various sur
plus products to market. For u long
time this need has been felt and fire.
oueut efforts have heretofore been
made to meet this want without Sue
cess, owing to the fact that the people
of other sections whose aid was neces
sary failed to cooperate, for the rca.
son that the way was not clear, or the
inducements not sufficiently strong,
or the magnitude Of the undertaking
too great for their resources. The
movement failed because the time and
the circumstances ut and under which
it was made, were unfayOrablc. Not
SO now. Circumstances have changed,
the situation has greatly improved,
and tho time for action has come. All
that is necessary for the success OF
the enterprise is unity Of purpose and
concert Of action -co-opcrdtion. Your
correspondent, 81. W. f. W." myour
last issue, has clearly set forth some
Of the advantages a railroad from Lib
crty to the Mississippi river would be
to our people. Although he does not
mention n 1.-THE of them, (cvery tax
payer complete the list), his ennmcra-
ton is sufficient to convince the most
skeptical that the road would prove u
material benefit in many ways to
every farmer, mechanic, merchant
and professional man in the county.
But when we consider that the road
secures connection with other roads
leading to the great commercial capi-
tal of the South ndintcrmcdiatc CEN
tcrs of trade, ind westward to the
Pacific ocean, the prospective benefits
are enhanced almost beyond the
power of human calculation.
Iwould therefore suggest the hold
ing Of q mass convention Of the people
Of Amitc county Mt M early day, say
the first day Of court, for the purpose
of considering this important matter
with the view of submitting the q,,cs-
ton of building the road by taxation
to a vote of the people Of tho county,
at the time Of holding the election for
Presidential electors this fall; and of
clecting delegates to convention Of
delegates representing tho parishes Of
East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana,
and the counties Of Amitc and Will
kinson, to be held in Clinton, La., as
soon as the same can conveniently be
done.
In furthcrancc Of the above sugges-
tions we reproduce the annexed cdito-
rial extract from the same paper:
MASS MEErING.-Wo have been re-
questcd to say that there will bc u
mass meeting of tho people Of Amitc
county, held in tho court house there
of, on the first day Of our next Sep
tember term of tho Circuit Court, for
the purpose ofconsidering the question
Of building u railroad under the char
ter recently granted by the Lcsisla-
ture, from Liberty to Woodvillc or
Clinton, and the means to beemploy-
ed, whether by taxation or otherwise,
and also to appoint delegates to a
railroad convention to be held in Clin-
ton in October next.
Altogether, it appears that our
Amito county friends mean business
and why shouldn't they! That
section of country embraces some of
the finest lands in South Mississippi,
all of which have no better means of
transportation than ordinary wagons.
This cannot last-they need and must
have better and more rapid means
of communication with the outer
world. Some of the most magnificent
fruits we have ever seen were grown
in Amite county, which can find no
market. The farmers there are nearly
all self-snstaining, producing all the
corn, meat, and, in great many in