Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1905-02-02
EN-. C. r. r.. LEASE.
what 1T POrtends For The De-
/. yelopmeent. of Eastern North
Carolina.

CaTO11nas |
A protest has gone up from GER
tain points along the line of the A.
an. c. Railroad against the present
method cooperating that property.
But there need,be no surprise at this,
nor at the bitterness manifested by
certain individuals in their protects.
The surprising thing is that the
protests were. SO long in coming.
Consider these facts:
Heretofore-for a whole half cen
tury-the road has been operated as
a political asset. AS such, no
thoughtful man ever expected It to
be run on a business basis, or to do
more than to make expenses: and
that is about all it has ever done.
AS such, it was expected to favor
those who favored it-that is to say,
it was considered proper for the
road to give passes and exemptions
and rebates and other special privi-
Ieges, whenever and to whomsoever
it saw fit: And it faithfully lived up
to these expectations throueb 1fahges
yictssitndef"tf0n.
But recently a change came over
the spirit of the dream. BY virtue
OF the lease of the road, made on Sep
tember 1st, to a private corporation,
the stockholders in the road, both
State and private, were guaranteed a
fixed and permanentincome on their
stock, and, under a provision in the
lease, the road is to have a quarter of
a million dollars spent on it at once
in permanentp sicalimprovements,
and it goes without saying that along
every avenue of effort inviting to
enterprise the country through which
it runs is to be developed.
It was expected that the lessee on
taking charge of the road, would APP
ply business principles to its man-
agement. This he did, as far as he
could, without at once withdrawing
the special privileges, granted to ia
vored ones by former administra-
tons. Under that arrangement
things went along very we'll until
the end of the year. With the be-
ginning Of the New Year these sspe-
cia1 privileges were not promptly
renewed. then there began to be
murmurs, then threats, and now we
have reached the mass-meeting-
to-protest stage. And not content
with "protest," we are going to "sue
the company" "build new trans
portatlon lines" "annul the lease,'
E'appeal to the Legislature" and
6'invoke assistance of the Corporation
Commission"
The truth of the matter is, that
none of these threats should give the
management of the road much con- /
Germ. The lease was regularly mace,
as we can certify, being Chairman of
the stockholders meeting that re-
viewed and executed the lease, and |
we believe it can stand all attacks in
NAIO COu1 - Ill 4oNO1 IL 10 A4OOC1CO /
after the lease of the North Carolina
Railroad to the Southern Railway,
which has stood the test of Iitlga-
tien.
AS to the extension of the A. & N.
C. r. r. charter, that is a matter
not for the lessee, but for the State,
whose credit and good faith, through
its stockholders, the States proxy
concurrlng, are pledged to en- extern
sion of the charter. AS for building
rival lines to compete with the A. &
N. c., that is a matter for those who
have a charter and the money-and
the disposition to spend it that way.
We shall be glad to see them built.
They would thus aid in the still
greater development of the coun-
try.
The proposition to go before the
Corporation Commission with their
grievances is, however, a sensible
and practical suggestion. Do that:
and if rates, as alleged, have been
raised beyond the poIn1 allowed by
law, the Commission could and will
order them lowered. If the contrary-l
is proven true, Of course rates will be
allowed to remain as they are now.
Here-and here only, lies the
remedy of those who are protesting
at points along the line Of this road.
1t is. however. the remedy for only |