The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-03-04
THE RAILROAD BILL.

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railroad ci Giles. We have eliminated fro
the bill only that part Of il classifying ireigt
and here and there superfluous verbiage, 4
extinguisbment Of which in no wise affects Il
senae. We know that there seems to be
/ general sentiment, not only in our own stat
but throughout the entire count
that there should DO son
sort of legislation to regulate railroads an
restrict them in their seeming dispositio
toward monopoly. Its this sentiment th,
makes Mr.. Reagan's interstate commerce bill
pending in congress, 70 popular, but there
rasson in all things ard tits jus! as easy to &
W extremes agains. railroads under an ide
TO regulate them rs 1t is FOR the railroads 4
GO To extremes in their Height and passcn
ger tariff. A happy medium is what is nee
essary, q conservative action, when any ac-
ton is taken At all But when we her,
In Texas come 10 lcok about US ant
SEQ how we are AT this particular june
turc situated in the matter of railroad ell
terprise, the question arises is i. not wise and
judicious to wait awhile snd lot the railroads
regulate themselves for the time being; lei
them bavo their own way, as 1t were, under
the existing law, for spell, at least, before
we raise hand or open our mouths in any
way calculated to hamper or retard, or ST any
rate to possibly injure them. There is not
railroad in Texas that can ever get such q
grip in the direction of monopoly or in grind
ing extortion, that the people cannot throw
1t of. The charter provisions Of
every one Of them look out Tor tina, and give
the rmedy We have now, say three
thousand miles of railroad completed and
over which trains are running With all
these miles Of road there is not line, how
ever, In the state that is finished under its
Charter. Every one ofthem is in an inchoste
(if We may use the word) condition. We
know that the Houston & Texas Central Is
completed from Houston TO Red river, toe
Texas line has two incomplete branches
on one of which hundreds of
men and teams are now at
work extending it day by day up into tao
heart of northwest Texas and tho other o.
tended only TO Austin. The Texas & New
Orleans reaches only from the Louisiana
line to Houston. The Galveston, Houston Il
Henderson road has gotten no further from
Galveston than Houston. The darrsburgh g. |
San Antonio road goes no further than
San Antonio though it is being extended
beyond San Antonio. The international Il
Great Northern road runs only from Long.
view TO Columbia, neither and having reached
iis contemplated ierminus The Western
narrow gauge extends but forty miles from
Houfton, stopping in the middle of bald
prairie. The Eastern narrow gauge goes but
fifty or sixty miles eastward from Houston.
Tho main trunk of the Texas & Pacific road,
and is Transcontinental branch, are both in
process of construction. Tho Missouri Pa
ci6c, with branches leading from Densop
toward the Rio Grando on tho southwest and
Sabine Pass on tho southeast, are but fairly
under way Of being built. Tho Texas
Trunk line has just got started with
few miles built out from Dallas The
Dallas " Wichita has some thirty eight miles |
only completed. The Jefferson, Texas, Eas,
line narrow'gusge, has gotten no further on
Its projected course than Grcenvillc, in Hunt
county. Tho 81! Louis & Texas narrow
gauge only has rails laid to Athens in Hen.
derson county. The Gulf, Colorado e. Santa !
Fe, spans but tho distance between Galveston
and Bolton. The international Ellis only the
gap between Longview and San Antonio
and the Mexican Gulf s. San Antonio road
leads but from Indinnola 10 Cuero. These
are the principal roads, not one of which Is
completed under ito chartar and on every one
OF which work In the way of tho extension
either of the main limo or branch or
branches, Is being done, except tho Texas & |
New Orleans, the Western narrow gauge,
the International & Great Northern, the
Galveston, Houston u Henderson and the
Mexican Gulf and San Antonio. Besides these
roads there are several little short roads,
for instance, tho road from Brownsville TO
tho mouth Of the Rio Grands; the road from
Corpus Christi 10 San Diego; the road from
Overton to Henderson; tho road leading GU.
twelve miles from Longvew southeast; tho
WaxAhachie Tap; the rosd from M,nool. a.,
Troupe. and tho road from Courtney to or
toward Montgomery. There are also roads
Chartered and to an extent underway, such Ms
the Chicago, Texas Il Mexican Central. and
Others we do not just now call to mind
These ara all great and grand an.
terprses that arc building up our
stale. Their owners arc moptblv
expanding millions Of dollars in our mid,t
and the, ara bringing us population; openips
up new fields to agriculture, developing our
mineral resources; attracting to us capital,
giving an impetus to manufacturing ven.
tures; making us rich commercially; making
Il possible to obtain deep water on our
coat that W. may have maritime cities md
sssporis 10 secure us direct trade with foreign
Countries They arc reclainilng our frontiers
and driving back tho savage aud the wild
beast They arc giving US pro.
T tscucn 70 life and propertv
On our Mexican border, and prensr.
%1ne The WAY for comr...,s., ..,.., -.