Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1885-06-19
A LOCAL RAILROAD A
NECESSITY.

A LOCAL RAlLROAD a
NECESSITY.
The Staunton M. & NJ. Association has |
under consideration report. submitted |
by Mai. Alex. Hart, which contains one |
suggestion that is of vital Importance to |
this city. Skirting along through High
land. the northern edge of Augusta, and
into Rockingham, lies the corpse of rail-
road The cuts and fills for miles are still
visible though several years have elapsed
since they were made. 1t was gotten up
on the cheap, narrow-gauge plan which.
even through the most mountainous dis
tricts, can be carried out at low figure,
and it was purposed to extend from Wash
ington to St. Louis. Two or three times
in as many years this old railroad has
given a feeble sign CT returning life.
and relapsed again. Every such re-
lapse has been reprleve to Stanton: for
on the day the first eighty miles of that
road IS QUILT. she can bid farewell to her
Highland and West Virginia trade. This
is the only trade which Stanton may be
said to control, for while she has large
trade along the G. & o. railway in West
Virginia, and fair trade along the Valley
railroad in this Valley. yet for both she is
in fierce competition with the larger cities
of Richmond and Baltimore-a COMPETE
tion in which she gets no favor from the
railroads. To the West Virginia trade
coming through Highland, Staunton
;e fba tho natural arb of
What value it is, our merchants we'll
know If she expects to hold it, she must
build railroad. When Lynchburg was
town the size Of Stanton. or rather a
little smaller for she had only six Thousand
Inhabitants. and when her wealth was
assessed at only So 900, 900, she subscribed
$500, 900 to the Virginia u Tennessee rail-
road, as it Was then called. She was in
precisely the same fix that Stanton no W
is. The canal was going by her, further
west, and the trade was passing her to
Richmond. She had back country. of
which she was the natural market, which
was about to pass away from her and she
boldly took the bull by the horns. 1t was
this act which gave Lynchburg her upward
start, and she is now the richest city Of
her size in Virginia. 1t is not question
on which Stanton has lifetime to pom
der. Whenever the business of the coun-
try improves, our old foe, the Narrow
Gauge, will be built-that is certain. But
we have another foe now slowly uncoiling
itself; railroad now being built from Par
kersburg to connect with the Richmond
& Allegheny road and which will pass
through long stretch of the territory in
West Virginia of which Staunton now
has the trade. Staunton can neither do
without railroad into Pendleton county,
nor aoait long for 1T. 1t must be clear to
all that if she is to get one she must
herself take the initiative. The present
dullness of trade throughout the country
should be no excuse for apathy or nom
action. The building of a railroad would
start into life every trade in Stanton
from the cobbler to the great grain mills.
Our merchants would find customers in
the hundreds of hands employed, our
county would find hons market for its
timber and produce, the laborer would
find place where he would get employ
ment-in short, everything would look up,
and Staunton would get back the bulk of
the monev she put into the enterprise.
We hope the M. & M. Association will
take some practical action on Maj. Harris
report. The Association is now passing
through the first beneficial stage of lis
existence, that of bringing our business
men into closer and more familiar &C.
quaintance with each other. But it must
not stop too long at that juvenile stage.
A better acquaintance will amount to lit
tie if it does not beget more general co.
operation in public enterprises. Discus
sion is an excellent thing but, lacking
practical results, it is little better than the
wind that blows. Let the members of the
Association individually. look into this
matter. find what amount Staunton has
the right to subscribe to a railroad. what
such railroad would cost and what its
advantages would be, and then as body
take the first step towards building one.
The community has great confidence in the
Association-as it should have, for it rep
resents the majority of the practical sense
and the wealth of our city-and looks to
it not only for guidance but for leadership
In matters of enterprise.