The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1889-09-26
North Carolina Railroads versus North
Carolina Editors--The R. & D. R. r.

In the Raleigh correspondence of
the Wilmington Messenger, we find
the following paragraph, viz:
1.-The railway men are reticent to
the last degree, and hate to see any
mention of their affairs in the papers.
The railway men in some cases keep
scrap-books for clippings relative to
their roads taken from newspapers.
If an editor says anything against a
road he is Il marked man forthwith
This custom obtains all over the
country, butts comparatively new in
North Carolina"
The editors of North Carolina,
while abundantly able to stand alone
against the saracenic scrap-bOOk
brigade, will not thus be left by the
people of the State, for the people
cannot, except at the risk of all that
''makes life worth living" be merely
lookers-on, while the enemy is driving
in our skiTmishers The people of
North Carolina, if they would save
themselves from one of the most re-
morseless tyrannies on earth, must
go into battle with hats off and
sleeves up, burning up every bridge
in the rear.
Shall thepeople rule the railway or
the railway rule the people, is the
issue, and surely no intelligent Amer
lean citizen can hesitate in deciding
upon which side of it he should be
found.
We are delighted as one of the peo-
pie to learn that the railway men
keep scrap-books, and having always
thought scrapping a good thing
VIII clxy
hand quite a supply of "mighty in
teIesting reading" for railway men.
No doubt they will do Il brisk scrap
ping business during the next few
years, but if they find business slack
at any time for want of raw mate
rial, they need but hint the matter to
lone of the people" and we guaran-
tee that the Forum will furnish on
short notice LOB lots" without the
slightest advance on manufacturer
prices.
The railway Scrap-bOOk business as
reported by the correspondent of The
Messenger, deserves the denunciation
of every editor and citizen of the
State.
What reason can any corporation
give for chatting to see any mention
of their affairs in hepapers, except
this: Our deeds are evil, and we
prefer the darkness which hides us
from public view. Burglars and
thieves have always hated moonshine
and always will.
This devilish work is preparatory
it means prescription, and pro-
scription means death to every editor
who dares to lift his voice OF push his
pen against a tyranny as remorseless
| and insatiate as the grave. Itmeans
| to muzzle the press mislead the peO-
| pie, mount the throne and run the
| State in the interest of a corporation
| it means the subsection of the Old
North State to Railway Kings.
North Carolina is very small dose.
comparatively, for such throats to
| gulp, and that they are licking their
| lips for her now is un1uestionable.
| In your issue of the 18th | find an
article contributed by Charles F. Will
son, of Winston, n. c., in which he
takes the position that the position
of lone of the people, is too strong
in regard to corporations in general
and the Richmond & Danville in par
| fcUlar.
1 welcome into the peoples Fo-
rum this gallant champion of the
Richmond X Danville Gin particular,
for as such he appears in the arena.
| We confess Il feeling of kindness to-
| ward this gentleman, which no doubt,
he is, when considered as the Scotch
say, ''in the abstract" and we feel Il
| regret that we cannot deal with his
gentility, unmixed with and undefiled
by the Richmond & Danville in par
ticular The mixture is exceedingly
unfortunate for Mr.. Wilson, because
his masters have imposed upon him
the task of defending what must in
evitably be the lost cause of injustice
and oppression; and is unfortunate
for the r. & d. sin particular" in that
the corporation has selected a cham
piOn who thinks he can cover up n
multitude of sins by spreading over
them some of the fimsiest tobacco
cloth rhetoric we have seen in many
years. The crossing at the Fries
plantation was an obstruction of the
highway, because loaded wagons go
ing into town were compelled to trav-
ell another road. And any obstruc-
ton of the highway is a nuisance
|
up the nuisance That crossing was
the dirtiest, muddiest fact that Mr.
Wilson has.ever run against, and ii
is not at all surprising that he gets
"stuck in the mud" when he wiggles
around it, Wagons have been run
ming along that highway and the
cold Man Providence" has been rain
ing on it from a time whereof the
memory of man runneth not to the
contrary, but never till that POWER
FUL CORPORATION s'like a wounded
snake, dragged it's slow length
across the road, did u wagon stop
Mr.. Wilson says very truly, we doubt
not), 81 know something of that
Brookstown road" There are null
titudes of men who also know some
thing of that Br0Okst0Wn road, and
this knowledge is in the highest de
gree experimental, acquired by plod
ding "their weary way" along that
road in summers heat and winters
cold, till that powerful corporation
reared it's pile in the highway, anG
said stick and stop, and they sToPP
ED and STUCK.
Mr. Wilson acquired that some
thing which he knows of that Brooks
town road, probably, while sitting
in his tent door, smoking cigar anC
enjoying the breezes whispering
among the pines. Our friend, TIL,
valorous defender of corporation
and of the r. & D. Gin particular,
is too clever a gentleman not to know
! that distancelends quite as much en-
chantment to the view of the Brooks