The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1883-02-22
The People and the Railroads.

If a man should come into your
'ncighborhood and say, If you will
raise me $4,000, | will build and
operate q grist mill and pocket all
the earning" what would you say
to him? And yet these are the very
principles on which special favors
are granted to wealthy corporations
that have the means of controlling
legislation.-Jackson Clarion.
liza man should come to Aberdeen
and make that proposition he would
be told that he was asking altogeth-
er too much for his grist mill, and
that we had au abundant supply of
excellent grist mills in the city and
country; but il he should say raise
me ten thousand dollars and l will
build and operate cotton or wool
factory in your town representing
an investment in building and ma
chinery OF hundred thousand dol
lars, and pocket all the net earning"
our people would heartily respond,
Come to us old fellow, you are the
man we have been looking for
Shake. ~
Columbus is paying company
100000 to build railroad to the
coal mines from her depot "and
pocket all the earnings and she
thinks she is making a good invest
ment of it, for she needs Tie road
badly and can better afford to pay q
bonus of that amount to induce
somebody else to build it, than to
withdraw nearly a million of dollars
Of her active capital from other
business pursuits and risk its in
vcstment in a single enterprise of
doubtful profit, Aberdeen invested
q hundred and twenty five thousand
dollars in building and equipping q
branch railroad upon which her
progress and prosperity depended,
and gave it to the main trunk line
with privilege of''pocketing all its
earnings" on condition that it
operated and kept it in repair.
Starkville, West Point and Aber-
deem have agreed to purchase right
of way through their limits and
land for depot grounds, etc, and
give the same to the Canton, Aber-
deem ond Nashville railroad provi
ded it evil build and operate" a
line passing through the towns,
and "pocket all the earnings" and
they regard this as the best invest,
ment they ever made.
We have no fears Of ever seeing a
Mississippi legislature that can be
purchased by any corporation, and
believe that if the wealthy corpora
tions wanted to invest their money
in that way they would stand bet
ter chance in bidding for a Board OF
State Railroad Commissioners, APP
pointed to regulate freight tariffs
An investment like. this might cost
more per capita, hut then the cor
poration would not have so many to
buy, and might accomplish it's ends
by purchasing one or two of them
There is no reason to believe that
legislators will ever be more pur
chasable than State Railroad Com
missioncrs.
Depend upon it that if the time
shall ever come when Mississippi is
so grldironed with railroads thai
she can afford to discourage the ex
tension of such enterprises and in
vestments within her borders by in
dividious legislation, the roads viii
make their defence at the hustings
and not at the capital, and will ex
ert their influence in electing Legis.
lators and Governors instead Of ey
pending their money in the effort to
bny them. But we never expect tc
see the day when the people of Mis-
sissippi will be at war with theil
railroads, or the railroads at wal
with her people.-4be,sieen Erami
Rer.