The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-11-11
Wednesday, Nov. II, 1885.
General Hn~ood's Report.

UC1aeFNA IhuSoOu heEpVT'
The report of General Hagood at the recent
Stockholders meeting, which gives a detail
ed account Of the present condition and
future prospects of the Carolina, Cumberland
Gap and Chicago Railroad will be read with
much Interest by all of our people, whether
they favor the enterprise or not.
General Hagood has no doubt done all that
ann man could do under the circumstances
1t was unreasonable to expect him to make
bricks without straw. He had no money
with which to work, and, so far as We know
1T was not, and is not, in the power of any
man to induce capitalists to put their money
into an enterprise for which there was little
or no demand and which could not, even un-
der the most favorable conditions, offer rea'
sonable assurances of a profitable return fol
the money invested.
It cannot, and will not be denied that there
was at one time a demand for q road such as
the Cumberland Gap road proposed to be, but
that time had passed before the eStraordi'
nary efforts were made 10 aid in building II
by taxation. While we were waiting, the
Greenwood and Augusta Railroad became al
accomplished fact, and the Savannah Valley
Railroad became an assured success. These
W roads answered the demand for railroads
so far as Abbeville and Aiken are concerned
BY observing the Railroad map, which was
issued by the Cumberland Gap company, il
will be seen that the railroads now in exist.
ence between Aiken, Augusta, and Troy, are
on as short a line as the route, on which II
was proposed to build the Cumberland Gap
Railroad.
There was a time when there was a demand
for a railroad from some point on the Green.
wood and Augusta Railroad to the city OF
Anderson. That demand has been supplied
by the Savannah Valley Railroad. We know
of no present demand by or by
travel for a new railroad between Abbeville
and Aiken, and no effort, so far as we reco!-
lect TO have noticed, has ever been made to
show any necessity for the building Of any
such road as the road from Aiken to Able
willie. But despite this state of affairs our
people, rs it were, in a great shout and hur-
rah, voted a heavy tax on many of the
corporate bodies along the line. This act of
The people must have been very gratifying to
the friends of the enterprise, and must have
given General Hagood renewed energy and
increased hope. Faithful to his cause, and
true to the best interests Of his company. as
he saw it, he went in person to Aiken to use
his personal influence for the road, but moth
ing could move the people Of Aiken from
their firm determination to refuse to levy a
heavy tax on her property and her business
interests. Almost Immediately after thisd de-
feat, and upon receipt of positive Information
that no substantial aid could be expected from
Charleston, he announced the fact that he
1x~,:-- Jo.k r,;tt, ~ l. c,,ooocc 0f Tho on or
prise, could not continue the effort, and ten
dered his resignation as President Of the com
pany.
The whole report exhibits p manly bearing
dn defeat, and furnishes internal evidence OF
his fairness, of his candor, and of his honesty
of purpose throughout. Although he must
have felt the disappointment at the refusal of
Aiken and Charleston to help in the enter
prise, yet he has no word of innuendo or con.
domination for'those who were not convinced
of the benefits to be derived from ar invest.
ment of their money in his road. We are
now the better able to understand the
bearing of the man, when he, in his letter to
Ir. Wideman, last April. declined TO urge our
people to vote for the tax. That letter, con
stlued with his report, would lead us to be-
1iONS lAop NV SNSA ASSooHiLSN VAN SAS
those who did not think as he did. With his
sense of'right and of justice, we know that he
must have realized that it was a hi~gh-handed
measure to forcibly a the citizens money
to build his road, and we are glad that he
made his report and offered his resignation
without casting reflections or imputations on
anybody. If we have, In our earnest opposi-
ton to the levy of a tax for his road, said
aught that was disagreeable to him personal
ly, we would make all proper amends for it.
While we opposed the levy Of the tax for the
road, we have always entertained the highest
regard for him personally, and whatever we
said was intended merely to express our op-
position to the levy, and not to reflect on him;
Since even. General Hagood, who is at the
head of the enterprise, and who knows more
of it than any other man can know, has no
heart or encouragement to prosecute the
work, or to follow this Observation-Disclosures
tern, it would seem that it now only remains
for its friends to give a decent burial to an
enterprise, which once had such glorious pos.
sibilities, but whGse hour has vanished
&nd whose place has been taken by others.