The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-09-04
Savannah Valley Railroad.

To the qualified coters Of Centrer1hs, Brodaa-
,oay, Nare,mes, Hall, Sarennah and Corner
Townships:
On the 18th day of this month you will
vote upon the question of subscribing by
taxation q small additional sum to the
Capital Stock of the Savannah Valley
Railroad Company, and I ask briefly to
lay before you some reasons why you
should vote this subscription.
lst. The sum asked for is necessary and
will be sufficient, with the subscriptions
heretofore made, to insure the completion
of the grading, when arrangements can
be made to iron and equip the road.
Cd. You have inaugurated the policy Of
grading this road by taxation, and it
would be unwise to change your policy
and throw away what you have already
done, or the amount heretofore invested
in this road. Not less than 80 out of 81
miles are now graded, and by the end of
this month there will be at least 40 miles
graded.
Sd. Every portion Of the community to
be benefited should bear. as nearly as
practicable, its just proportion of the
DUrLQ6D. lue Slty Oi ohuOioOiA h''
su absorbed S37, 900. The Townships in
Abbeville $4l 5000 and you have here
tofore subscribed 2l,7l0.00, to which,
when added the sum now asked of the
Anderson Townships, will aggregate a
sum total of $4,000.
4th. The highest considerations Of in
terest call upon you to vote this sub
scription. What you need is competing
rates in the carrying trade OF your market
town, (Anderson,) where you sell your
produce and buy your supplies. The
Richmond & Danville system owns the
only Railroad running to and from An
derson-the Columbia 81 Greenyille Rail
road. Greenwood on this road, and the
terminal point Of the A. & K. r. R., Ia
part of the Georgia Central system y with
which we aim to connect, is the only town
in the up-country that enjoys these COM
peting rates, which we would have If we
had the same connection. A brief exam
ination Of the table of rates as published. !.
shows that Greenwood can ship bale OF
cotton to New York for 81 cents per 100
lbs, while it costs so cents per 100 lbs. to
ship it from Anderson. a difference OF %
cents per 100 lbs, or Sl.15 on a 500 ID.
bale. In the season of 1928, 2O,0U0
bales were shipped from Anderson, on
which, at these rates, $4,000 could have
been saved. The expense OF shipment is
deducted by the merchant from the price
Of the cotton, and is lost by the producer,
nearly one.quarter Of a cent.
Now, take the average number OF bales
produced in these Townships, and pur-
haps the tax now proposed will 90 very
little, if any, more than the amount an
nually saved on this one item OF cotton.
Careful estimates show that from $4,000
to &C, 1000 bales of cotton are raised in An
derson County year, and this would
give an average Of over 1000 bales to
each Township, which is as near as l can
Div the saving to his own case and see
what it will amount to in one year on cot
ton alone.
Now add to this the increased cost OF
the supplies you buy-such as molasses,
corn, -four, bacon, fertilizers and other
goods-as shown by the same diferential
rates, and in the trade of Anderson you
will have an increase of from $25, 900 to
$50, 900, or sum total say of $50, 900, all
paid by the producers and consumers for
the want of competition in the carrying
trade of our City. Any merchant at An
derson will tell you it is cheaper to ship
molasses from New Orleans to Green
wood, and reship from Greenwood to An
derson, than to ship in the first instance
from New Orleans to Anderson.
That we will have this competition is
Just as certain as that Greenwood enjoys
| it to-day, and that the two great systems
of Railroads bidding for our carrying trade
Is each too large and powerful to absorb
the other. What more forcible argument
could be addressed to the intelligence OF
our people to induce them to vote this
subscription? These railroad transpor-
tation rates are, in one sense, tax levied
upon the people to carry their produce
and supplies. and we now invite you to
vote a tax for one year on this subscrip-
ton to save you in future years from an
equal annual tax levied by the one Rail
road you have.
By the laws of trade competition forces