Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-08-15
THE SITUATION.
A Comprehensive Letter by Mr. c. f.
Meek of the Fort Worth and Denver.
Railroads are Not Antagonistic to the People
and as Business Increases Rates
Will be Reduced.

railway, presented Che committee OF
thirty-one at the Dallas conference Mon
day:
DENVER. COL, Aug. 10, 1888.
DEAR SIR note with pleasure the
course being pursued by the committee
of thirty-one, representing the thirty
one senatorial districts of the state for
the purpose of adjusting in friendly
way differences existing between the
people of Texas and the railroads on the
question of freight rates. 1 had hoped
to be present at the meeting, but find it
quite impossible.
1t argues well for the people of Texas
that their representatives have wisely
decided, before taking action on this i'm
portant question, to investigate it thor
oughly, that it may be treated under
standingiy and with a knowledge of its
intricacies, taking cOgnizance of the
situation in its entirety, so that, by hasty
action, some local interests will not be
served at cost TO the general welfare.
Having thus taken an advanced position,
l trust that Texas viii lead in the van
preserving that wholesome harmony be-
tween state and railway interests which
alone can yield the maximum in the de-
velopment of material resources with the
minimum of hardship to the people in
general.
There is one proposition often made
and always agreed 70, namely: That
esthe interests ola state and those of its
railways are identical. - And while ac-
ton has not always proceeded from this
standpoint, it is nevertheless true; and
it is a cheering sign that they are at last
to come together in council, as wise men
ought, that the action of the future may
be predicated upon sound principle and
good business sense, rather than upon
local prejudice and instructive conflict.
1t would seem proper in the considera-
ton of this question to go back, some
what, into the history Of Western rail-
roads, and study their relation to the de-
velopment of the new Western states; as
far back, if you please, as the period
when it was considered a great hazard of
capital and the folly of over sanguine
people TO invest capital in the construc-
ton of railways west of the Great Lakes;
and l doubt not the committee is made
up of men whose memories run back to
fully equal to all the traffic of the South
ern and Western states, traEersing in the
most part wild and unsRltivated lands
having little if any value, and returning
nothing to the weaIth'of state or patiOn.
Bat the chance WIS taken, and, one by
: one, in rapid succession, these public,
highways were built far in advance of
development, and in many cases in adj
vance of population. The people fol-
lowed in their wake, taking up the land
at little or no cost, cultivating the soil
and finding a new world of agricultural
resources; an inheritance of land Increas-
ing in mOnied value year by year, be-
cause of the building of these railroads.
II was found that these people and the
railroads pTospered alike; and the eX-
pansiOn and development has gone on
mile by mile and state by state, until the
money value thus created can scarcely
be computed. These results have been
reached by q union of two great forces;
They have been gathered so fast, so I'M
consciously, and have spread over so vast
an area, almost simultaneously, that we
are not yet prepared to realize their mag
nltude. Take an instance in the state OF
Texas. The Fort Worth and Denver
road, 465 miles, has been built mostly
"Ilulu IllG pdSb i've AOJ ySdIS, anu d
large portion of if within the past two
CD years. 1t is reasonable to calculate
this line makes available for agricultural
development an area of II 200 900 acres
of land. Now, taking as a basis, the his
tory of land less favorably located and
by no means capable of producing as
great results, and placing the in
creased value at $40 per acre, this land
will increase the taxable value of Texas
Sl70 900 600, to say nothing of the in
crease in towns and cities and the actual
worth of this territory to the remainder
of the state in production and consump-
ton. To reach this result, men of Texas
and other states have risked their private
capital. There was hazard in it; and it
is incumbent upon the men who have in
vested this money to see TO it that these
values are made, in order that they may
receive fair return upon their invest
ment. They cannot do this by an OPP
pTessiye and arbitrary policy IN their
dealings with the people locating on their
line; they cannot do it by antagonizing
any local or general interests; nor can
they do it by any conflict with the united
forces which shall make this new territory
inhabitable, prosperous and valuable.
1t must be done by a liberal and pro-
EAGSsANS DOllCs O4 llG part DOIH
of the, people taking up these
lands and of the railroad running
through it. The railroad is the
the people the master. Yet
each must regard tie conditions of the
other. 1t is little wonder if all the peo-
pie do not understand these peculiar con-
ditiOns under which the railroad must
work; nor that the railroad management
may not at all times comprehend the re-
quirements of the people. Some bitter
ness may exist between the two for want
of mutual and perfect understanding.
If they do not work together, neither will
hence, wisdom suggests
friendly conference, full understanding
and unity of action. Hitherto, these
two great forces have not been pulling
as strongly as they might. But
Texas has made a new place at her coun-
ell board, and let us hope that these
closer relations may bring large returns
to her people.
Now that we are going to come to-
gether i'll this way, let us be entirely
frank and confidential with each other in |
everything.
The questions with which this council, |
broadened and newly organized, must |
grapple, it may be said, involve almost |