The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-04-21
The Best-C race-Fish- Buford-
CIyde-Paper Railroad,

Late the Chief Link of the 'Norti
Carolina system of lnterna! Improve
ment. -
We have been quite busy all wecI
with private matters OF Importance
too busy to do more than note tha
several small potato quill pop gun
have been aiming at the Fdrner oa'
.Hrcaaatc. When quite a boy We wer,
Il speculative and rhliosophic turn o
nind, and we recoilect YuzzllDg owe
the fac; that a little quili, a little potato
| an Il little giad, should make any sor
Il report.
Advancing yeas have not relieved
our perplexity, but we have arrived a
two conclusions: LIST, that those wind,
pop guns never do any damage: 2nd
that they rarely pop without beln!
manipulated by somebody behind them
Ii Is true. that some peppers are tont
of hearing themselves pop, and ain
their potato pellets to attract attention
Be that as 1t may, we must leave
them alone for the present. As we re
marked three weeks ago. the time ha.
not We. come for fully discussing thi:
matter We have no enmity toward:
the Richmond q Danville Railroad
or towards Richmond, or Danville
or any of the parties concerned. Or
the contrary, we have done a. much fol
them, for the Westcrn \. {. r. r.,
and for Western North Carolina, "a
mluch or more (both as Editor, and
utherwise) as any editor IN the
State. But that does not effect the
as truth Of our sertlons which sem to
rifle" the gall ofcertain writers name
ly:
Ist. That w. J. Best came with fam
ing Promises, subsequently converted
iuto Pledges, which have not been car
ried out.
2ud. That a special session was call
ed, and gre It expense Incurred, to sell
the Western n. c r. X. to W. j
Best, and three New York capitalists.
sole y III orderto get Il great State Line,
or North Carolina System" completed
aad oper0ted With q cteiO Of buiIltng ~
oae Or "tore Of or State seapo'ts. Wild
any man pretend to say the special ses
Ion would have sold The Western Road
to the Redmond e DanvilIe? Any
such proposal would have raised a storm
Of denunciation in the State.
81. That at the time the public sup
posed the road was being sold to Best
Fish, Grace, & Co. (tor the purpose of
building up Beaufort, and IA grand
steamship Line 10 foreign ports, there
was such intimacy between Gov. Jarvis,
and Messrs. Andrews. Buturd 4 Co.
Tin whose parlor car he visited Wash
lngton) as prec!udes the idea that thcy
did not forsee the falling ofthe apple into
their hands.
Ii Gov. Jarvis will say as a private
citizen and gentleman that he had no
UGH expectation, and hat he did not
anticipate tie change of ownership
then zee ,oW J,nnkly Acknowledge thu
zee hnoe done linn injustice IN Nought,
and WrOng IN on @tnt,ntnttOa that lie dtd
forser such u concuyrencei Can anything
be tairer?
We have no wish to misrepresent
him in the lea-t. Neither have We AIRY
love for controversy. All who know us.
know that we should far rather praise
than condemn. Our paper is noted for
seeking opportunity to say a good word
for people But, as a public jour
nalist, owning allegiance to no man nor
set of men, We have noted:-
a.-ihat a great State commotlon
was raised to sell or give away a great
State property for a specific purpose.
THAT this purpose has not been
carried out, but on the contrary that
the great State property is beiL turned
to the building up OF another State.
Chat Gov. Jarvis was charged by
law with the duty of seeing the original
purpose of the sale carried out, step by
step, mile by mile.
d, That this has not been done
and that the Governor in his message
TO the Legislature failed to even alIude
to the well-knOwn fact that the original
project had failed, and the original pur-
pose of the property was being perver-
ted to Richmond uses.
Chat during all these months,
(now more than a year, from the first
announcement of the project, he has
had intimate relations with the parties
who now are turning the road from its
original purpose, to-wlt, the building
up of Beaufort.
t-(and finally)-that these parties
were publicly and privately active
in favor of the sale to Best. the origi-
nal sale,-which SO o simmered out.
Upon these items We based all our re
marks. And If any critic has met
them, or explained them, we fail to see
where or wherein.
Here We again repeat if these as
wrong Gov. Jarvis, or any
one else, we should take pleasure ia adj
hitting o%urself, and the appearances
N error. We are not writing to attack
} jarvis, nor to serve the ends of any
body. Not So much as a word, written
or spoken, have we ever exchanged with
any 'Raleigh man., or Eastern man,
or public man." on the subject.
We write solely in the interest ofthe
State, and because we believe it ricLt
SO to write. Our people-the masses
we trust are with US. But il they are
not, we cannot help it. During some
twelve years OF journalistic experience
we have never failed to be found on the
SIDE OF the people, as against Ring
leaders, wire. pullers. and Monopolies,
whether of Banks, Railroads, or wood
The result was as plain ten years ago
as to day, namely that such a course
neither wealth, fame, o popu-
and III many cases not even
gratitude. But a man can live without
of those, and we shall continue
so to do.
NOT so MANY SI1EANES.
The letter Of a correspondent firing
at the Wilmington Star, has been wide
~ copied, and may give an erroneous