The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-04-16

Galveston NGtos who thus reports
! The N.rs man began his search after knoa
edge by general inquiry after the plans of
the new corporation of which Gen. Grant had
but recently been elected President. For re
ply he was informed by Gen. Grant that the
company had but recently been organized, and
that the object of this visit Is to overlook the
situation, rs il were, preparatory to the com
mencement Of the active operation Of construc
ton.
as this line to be a Part Of what Is known
rs the Gould SYSTEM"
Yes; Mr.. Goald is one OF the stockholders,
and "a director in the line"
What are to be your terminir'
"The city of Mexico and Tehuantepec the
line passing through Oajaca. At the City Of
Mexico connection will be made with all the
roads centcring there and divergIng toward
the North Upon these construction is being
pushed Us rapidly rs possible, 10000 men be.
ing now employed on the line OF the Mexican
Central Before the end OF the year there will
| bc 10000 laborers at work On the railroads
throughout the republic
! Prom tins /, would seem that effective or
ganiza,ion and abundance of capital are both
behind these enterprises"
| There are sufficient brains, energy and
money n, hand 10 accomplish the results that
are soua hit"
"Do you fix upon any time for the accom-
plishment Of the en,,rprisc?'
| circumstances will largely control that
OF course no time will be lost, and delays Will
be avoided rs much aS possible"
VIVA, is the general feeling, AS far as you
can judge, among MeXlCans regarding the in
road OF American CapilalY'
Favorable. The great body Of the people
the intelligent masses, who govern and con
troll cvCrywhGre-havc come to see that theirl
interests lie in TIN. direction. They have not
the requisite means for TINS development and
therefore are glad 20 see the presence of Ameri-
can capital"
But will not the old bugbear annexation
create u feeling of dis.rust against your enter
prises'"
II do not fear anything on that score. WhenI
visited Mexico | found something OF this
feeling, but 4 proved conclusively, think, tol
their minds the folly Of such fear, | toldl
them OF the change which had taken place IN
our institutions. Twenty years ago, when
slavery was in existence, there might havel
been feeling favorable TO the acquisition of
this territory, for the reason that, with any
growth slavery might attain, it would have re-
CURED additional room in this direction, as itsl
spread in others had been checked. But the
abolition Of that institution had effectusly dc,
strOyed this argument for acquisition, and ~
this time satisfied that the American people|
would oppose the requirement of further pos
sessions except upon terms honorable and sat-
isfactory TO all. Again. ~ another argument,
] showed that We consume S2O000O,0O worth
of tropical and semltropical fruits, which We
now obtain from countries that, in the first
place, employ slave labor, which Is distasietul
TO us; then they impose heavy duties which
We have to pay and, in the end they deal In
return with US only to the ex.est OF receiving
our sterling cXchane. This trade. | argued,
they could control and command, and by an
interchange of products and trade relations
could be established equally and mutually
profitable and satisfactory"
II notice in the Mexican correspondence of
a New York paper remark Of opposition,
and comment by Mexican papers upon ex-
tracts from the American press hostile to these
projects. DO you conceive this to be reflex
of the sentiments of any element of strength IN
oppOsitiony
mo, not TO serious extent. The MeXicans
understand their own press, and know how toI
gauge H. 1t is our own press which can do
US harm The San has been opposing this en-
lerprisc but that means me. II Is not 50 much |
opposition to the railroad rs it Is to me per
sOnally. The orId and other leading joar.
nails have treated the enterprise fairly"
will the foreign element now in MexlcoE
prove antagonistic to the advent Of further
American cnterprisesv
Not to any serious extent OF course. somel
Of the foreigners will oppose it, but their num-
bers or influence are not dangerous"
81 understand, then, that the sentiment of
the people is favorable. Are the Government
concessions IN keeping with this splritr"
"Yes. The Government has made greater
concessions than should have been made
greater than she will be able to pay"
In fhn nf thpSpt
roads, do you anticipate any extensive. I'M
mediate growth or development Of the re-
sources of the countryY'
IL do most assuredly, Already attention
has been directed TO the Increase OF the agri.
cultural features. Large sugar, coffee and
wheat plantations are now being opened, and
these will be opened and widened upon an ex.
tended scale Land and labor are cheap, and
the native population finding means OF trans
portation for their products, will all the moreI
readily engage in these pursuits. The traffic.
between the two countries will develop i'm
cnsely with the progress of carrying facilities"
This then, augurs we'll for the future pros
perity of the country"
decidedly. The whole country will e1.l
perience It, Texas first and more immediate
iy, bot the influence will be general"
This gigantic system OF roads, connecting
the two republics, must needs have an outlet
to the sea. Where DO you think that Will be =
Galveston, of course, if you can get deep
water You have a city here already, and have
all the advantages of geographical location. II
your efforts to deepen your harbor are success
| lul, the railroads will naturally point to this
place. If not, they will have to seek some 9TH
or port. However, learn that the engineer
| in charge of the works Is confident of success"
Here the conversation drifted into a discus
sion Of the narrow gauge system, which Cen
Grant pronounced to be the most valuable as
pioneer roads, on account of their cheapness
of construction snd the fact that from their
own earnings they could be changed TO the
standard gauge. From his remarks further in
this strain the impression was not made that
he considered it extremely probable there
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