The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-07-02
Southern Atlantic States, as the same are
grouped in railroad statistics, are almost
Identical, as appears by this table:

Aggregate New YORK, New
Jersey Pennsylvania, Dele
ware, Maryland, District CO. mr.
lumbia, West Virginia 511 1SSOs
Aggregate Virginia. North Caro-
lima, South Carolina, Georgia,
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Tennessee, Ken
,244SsS 1855
But the similarity in the conditions OF
the railroad problem in these two Sec
tions of the country ends here. For we
find that Mr.. Poor gives the net earnings
of the
Middle Atlantic group for 1888 as.".S107, ,259 2S3
While in the Southern Atlantic group 49,. -,
they were but.... Lo,ooo,4oo
The railroads in the former States
carried during the year 1888 Of pas %, .o- ooo
sonccrs 1875 ,5S5899
The rairouds in the latter carried..... 14,l14S66
The railroads in the former moved tons .- oo- ooc
of freight..
The railroads in the latter moyed....." 26,oso5S9
There is again almost identically the
same number of miles of railroad in
PROPORTION to population in Connecticut
as in this State; there being in Connec'
ticut one mile to every 647 inhabitants
and in this State one to every 646. But
in Connecticut the railroads carried in
1883 1O,6S4,374 passengers and moved
5,OO5 1863 tons of freight, while ours car.
ried 1,093,697 passengers and moved
1,4O4, ,624 tons. We must bear in mind
too the important fact that of the 999,
SIT of the population of this State 604,-
S92 are negroes, and but 391, ,245 of the
like industrious and thrifty people who
support the Northern and Western Rall.
roads. Do not these statistics show that
we have railroads enough in this State
already to do FIVE or ten times the bust.
ness which now offers? And ought we
to tax the people to build more when
those already built have not business
enough to do? :,
It's urged that if we build more rail:
roads the population and business will
increase and furnish them with as many
passengers and as much freight as they
t1ill be able to carry. But does expert
ence warrant such an expectation? This
was the theory upon which the vast
amount of capital was invested in the
new Western States, and in those States
there were exceptional grounds on which
to base such calculations. There was
the immense multitude of emigrants
seeking homes in the West, and a virgin
soil awaiting but their coming to yield
untold wealth in grain. But even in
that section there was a limit to the profit
able building of railroads, as is shown
in the case of Colorado, Notwithstanding
her silver mines. In our case there are
no such conditions on which to base rail-
road speculation. We can expect no
sudden EXP .,sion of business, nor the
wonderful results which followed railroad
building in some of the newly settled
territories.
We must remember, too, that the capi
tai sunk 10 Colorado was foreign capital,
voluntarily sent there on speculation,
seeking great gains, in the face of posi-.
BILE loss. The capital we risk in these
new enterprises is to be drawn from our
own people, for the most part unwillingly,
by taxation. We, ourselves, are not
without some aevere lessons in railroad
enterprises ir This State. We have
already a city, town and county debt in,
Cured for the building of railroads OF
s4,137 ,579, to wit: