Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-01-03
WEST VIRGINIA CORPORATIONS WHOSE
CHIgP End is LAND-GRABBlNG.
How the State Hss Been and Is 10 Be Benefited BY
Legitimate Railroad Enisrpnss-Public Appre'
hsnsion Concerning the Methods Of Some
Companies Now in Existence.
sneeial o,resno,dence Of nc Rectster.

tains of the Far West. The people OF q
majority Of the counties were absolutely
cut Of from communication with each OTHER
or with the outside wcrld, save through
the precsrious aud uncertain navigation OF
the rivers or the slow travel over execrable
mud roads, and their general condition was
seemingly as hopeless as 1t wa. pitiahle.
The conditions have pow changed to de
gree little less than marvellous, and hve
years herce there will not be county in
West Virginia to which a railroad will not
have penetrated, and every quarter Of the
State will be comparatively easy OF access.
RAILROAD BUILDING.
E.ch succeeding year Of the past half
dozen has shown steady increase IN the
railroad milesge, bu. it has been especially
reserved for the past two years to zee the
Inauguration OF public Improvements Of
this nature. To-day the mountains and
valleys Of the interior Counties are dotted
with squads OF engineers, and lines OF eur
yey sggregatipg thousands Of miles have
been run. Not all Of these lines will be
actually constructed, aud of those reason
ABLY certain to be built considerable por-
portion will be deferred from one cause or
another for three or fcur years 10 come,
but quite number Of enterprises are be-
ing and will be pushed with all possible
speed. and the close of 1890 will likely
see an increase OF several hundred miles in
the tracksge OF the State.
UNPOPULAR CORPORATION METHODS.
To say that the State has been and will
be greatly benefited by the building OF
these ps rnen ant lines Of rapid communi-
cation and large freight capacity, run
ming between the rich coal and
timber lands Of the interior coun les
and the markets of the adjoining
States, would be but to state a pilpsble
truth; but with equal justice, can it not
be sci that the bes,fi TO accrue from
some OF the enterprises now pro jected or n
process OF construction are not quite 80 a9-
paren,? There il reason to believe this
view of the situation is very ep: TO be taken
at the coming special session Of the Legis.
lsture, So Governor Wilson, in wording bis
call for the extraordinary meeting OF that
body, took occasion to call particular at
te ton to the urgent need of legislation re-
garding railroad corporations IN general.
II looks very much as though large POI
ton OF the time of the session might be
aiyen up to consideration of these most
| important subjec to the great bentfi. OF
the public interests.
1t must not be inferred, from what has
gone before, that there is any hostility TO
railroads, either iu general or in partcu-
lsr, or that there is any lack OF spprtcia-
tion OF their very great value in opening
I'D and developing the State. Such cO0-
clusion would be very fer from the truth.
Bot there is feeling, il not OF hostility,
at least of apprehension and dissatistsc
ton. This feeling undoubtedly exists,
and cannot be ignored. 1t is not due
to any failure to realize the great need
West Virginia has for more railroads,
but rests upon the exceedingly peculiar
and unpopular methods which are being
pursued by nearly sll the corporations now
striving for participation in the develop
ment OF the great natural resources OF the
State. II is beginning to be reslis9d that
the tendency OF the policy and methods
adopted by those at the head of certain
railroad corporations, whose charters are
90 worded az to give them authority to do
any and all things Of business nature
conceivable to man, is not TO benefit the
State and improve the condition OF the peo-
ple in the broad sense which we are sccus-
toned to have dinned into oar ears by
press and speaker; but, on the contrary, is
calculated to have an eff. ct decidedly the
reverse. and il is da@ning realization OF
| AZ. -, alrantfa, IN inf IF n
very in fluent tial and potent element in this
State.
BUYING UP THE LANDS.
There is no cause OF complaint sgainst
any of the existing railroads. There is
little tangible evidence against come Of
the lines now hnilding The jeopardy OF
the public interests, and the const q uent
restlessnsss OF public sentiment, comes
mainly from the operations of corporations
whose lines are not yet built, bat which
are certain to become a tapgible reality ir
the near future. The menace lies in this:
Almost without exception, the roads now
being surveyed through the interior coun-
ties Of this State form but part Of the
gigantic schemes Of their proprietors. The
men who are actively Interested ia these
new lines, the coming Of which bas been
the cause of no little premature rejoicing
among people not we'll informed, have
been, within the past few years, but par.
ticularly withia the past twelve months,
large buyera Of coal aud timber lands
Hundreds Of Thousands of acres of the
most valuable lands Of the State have been
bought up by large corporation, in which
Eastern and foreign csp pitsl is interested to
the extent OF millions Of dollars, snd this
land is to lie locked up from the farmer
and the stockmap, 10 await the pleasure Of
these railroad msgnstes. Hundreds Of miles
OF surveys have been run, with no other
object than TO penetrate these enormous
tracts OF land, and allow CT the transpor
tstion Of their timber and al 10 market.
Those on the outside will receive no bene-
it, The land owner who may still retain
his coal or timber will not be bensfi ted,
for the railroad and land msgra.es will
not haul his freight when they have their
own timber or minerals awaiting transpor-
taiion to market The emigrant will not
be benefited, for be will not enter region
where the land lies locked up in hundred
Thousand acre tfaels, and the S ats at
large will not be benefited, for although
she may gain in railroad mileage, she will
| lose through her farming population being
forced aside to make room for the capital
lists, who are to consolidate and fence in
their land.
WEST vIRGIEIA's NEEDS.
What West Virginia has been hoping
for is the entrance Of railroads and emf
grafton, that her land, always held in
tracts far too la ge for the beat interests OF
the people, might be broken up into small
er areas and thrown open TO the farmers
coming in from other States and from
abroad. Brit it looks very much as though
the blessings she had been praying for, in
the shape OF railroads, will, in snme in
stances at least, prove a curse. The ten
and fifteen thonsani acre tracts are being
consolidated by capitalists into hOldines OF
much larger sza, and will be thus beld for
the pecuniary advantage Of the railroad
builders of the next two or three years, to
the positive dstIiment OF the people OF the
counties in which the great corporations
are operating
The methods being pursued by thsse
corporations are Of the most business-like
and systematic nature, aud they hsye been
going on, in cone instances, for two or
three years past. 0ae great corporation
has kept q high-prieed specialist from
German. University in the wilds of the
lower part of the stAts, fer three years past
They have actually bnilt and furnished
fine residenc. for BIN, and there bis family
resides, in the backwoods, while this tx'
pert geolOgist spends weeks and mOnths on