The morning times., 1896-07-19
UNCLE SANS RAILWAYS
Government Once Owned Many
Transportation Lines.
TELEGRAPH WIRES. ALSO
Occasions When the Head of the
Nation Practiced PaternaliSm.
What 1t All Cost.

7 Government ownership Of railroads and
pf telegraph lines, disputed question of
governmental policy, is by no means an
untried experiment. Possession OF Trans
portation lines becomes at times govern
mental necessity, and when occasion arises
Uncle Sam is not disposed TO back wardness,
nor does he fail to avail himself OF every
thing lik civ to be of service to him.
Seventeen hundred and siNty-nine miles
of military railways were at one time under
the control of and operated by the ma
tional government, and these were repaired,
maintained and stocked under the direction
of the War Department at public expense.
To add to this outfit, as great adj
junct to its transportation facilities, a ma
tional rolling mill and repair shop were
established, to which were shipped vast
quantities of iron, burned and bent and
warped out of shape, and this material
was work ed over and utilized in the restora-
ton of lines which were the prey OF the
spoiler.
Other methods Of transportation We're
required also and the government adapted
itself to that line Of business. owning ana
operating river craft which were acquired
by purchase, by construction or by capture
In one department alone, embracing the
Miss. sippi River andits numerous Tributaries,
Uncle Sam made use of thirty-four side
wheel steamers, thirty-seven stern-wneei
steamers, three center wheel steamers,
one ferry boat and sixteen screw tugs.
These were for the transfer of human
freight, of course and yet his mercha ndise
and personal property Were provided for
by the ACQUISITION # steamboat hulls, two
in number; model barges, -. Eunwaie
harges, zee; small wood barges, 26; box
barges, l. and barges not classified, %;
Il total OF BOZ.
MAINTAINED ITS WHARVEs.
Even to the wharfage was there pro
vision made. paternal supervision having
been maintained over Is wharf boats,
canal boats, 60 coal boats, SO yawl boats,
sail boat and l metallic boat
Skiffs, also. 10 the number of 3, and
sectional docks, small flats and floating
docks, down TO the very minutia of first
class establishment, was Uncle Sam equipped
with, and he owned craft large and small.
To the number in the aggregate OF 6OS on
the Mississippi way back III the sixties
Eight thousand wo hundred and one and
three-fuurths miles of telegraph wire and
I2I l-2 miles of submarine cables had
The government stamp ranked upon them,
and the cost of supplying, maintaining aud
pperating these transmltters of thought
was at the rate Of S75, 600 per month.
In four years there were constructed and
operated 1900 miles OF telegraph, the
average cost Of operating which the first
wear and a half was about S22,CO0 per
month; in the next succeeding year, S3s.-
$50 per month, ami in the next year, S92,-
SEQ per month. The total OF the eSpendi-
lures in four years for this purpose was
S2,655, 500.
For what object was this great cstab-
ishnent maintained? That is best answer
Ed by an extract from the official records
Of the times, AMI beginning may be made
il,yrl,r dat, ha nf
government rolling mill.
In the winter of 1863 armed hostilities
being in progress and very much in EVIL
ucnce, the maintenance OF railway facill-
ties was prime necessity. A single illus
tration will doubtless suffice to show the
practical results.
When the armed foe was driven back from
Chattanooga, Tenn, the need OF the i'm
MEDIATE repair and almost total recon-
struction of the railway tracks between
Nashville and Chattanooga became ap-
parent.
REBUILT THE RAILWAYS.
1t was equally necessary at the same
lime that the roads from Nashville to De-
ratur, and from Decatur to points beyond
Knoxville should also he repaired and
equipped, and Uncle Sam put his patriotic
hand into his pocket and Withdrew the funds
required TO meet the expenses.
Bridges were rebuilt, ne W and heavier iron
was laid, and locomotives and cars in great
number were procured.
In the repair Of So vast system iron that
had been damaged was gathered together
in large quantities., and this prompted the
next move, which was To provide the means
of ma king that iron scrviceable. From
this grew the rolling mill.
1t was located at Chattanooga, and was
capable of re-rulling fifty tons of railroad
iron per day. By this means many niles Of
railway communication, OF immense I'm
portauce to the government, were put into
operation, rolling stock being purchased,
the trains manned and time schedules ar
ranged and executed by the strong right
military arm of the United States.
Practically, the government owned these
railroads -certainly them, andmet
II y-roh each month that carried the names
of nearly 1000 employees.
But when the time came for the trans
ferriDg the military into civilians, for con-
vertiDg the swords into pruning hooks, the
war Department sought to rid itself of its
mammoth responsibility.
There was no longer call this Jack-of-
nlltrades, to continue in the business of
promoting interstate trade. Efforts were
made as early as practicable to induce tie
owners OF the roads in rebellious princi-
pailtieS, that land of cinnamon seeds and
sandy bottoms to reorganiZe by the cleo
tioD of loyal boards of directors and mana
gers, and to resume charge Of the prop
erty wrich bed fallen into Ine hands OF the
Department of War.
RETIRED FROM Blu SINEsS.
The roads had been put in good condition
al large expense, and il was not Il one-sided
bargain as the former owners readily con-
coded 1t required but brief while for
the transfers 20 be conSummatcd.
1t was argued that railroad was
an engine OF war more powerful than a
battery of artillery, subject to capture and
use, and there was no reason for paying
damages or rent for its occupation. The
rolling stock and movable Machinery was
Therefore hired to the companies for
their use until arrangements could be
made Tor their sale.
Questions OF ownership and claims to
material of the tracks transferred by
either Federal or Confederate authority
from one road to another We're left to
the courts, and no charges Were made
against the corporations for expenditures
OF repairs and no charge by the corpora
lions against the government for trans
portation nor for damage done by its
agents or troops was admitted. The
United States merely retired, leaving the
lawful owners to prove property and take
possession.
During the forty days between May 81
and July 6, 1865. n total of 233, 200 men,
1888 horses, and 4, 300 $50 pounds OF
baggage was moved from Washington by
the Metropolitan branch OF the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad to the Relay House, and
nf Fro fh1t f,lr,f