The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-07

leave us line. Each road exacted full igin or destination. Under those cir- cumstances, the road had to be sus- tained, if at all, by local traffic, and If the local traffic was not sufficient at the then relatively high rates as com- pared with the present rates, the loss fell upon the promoters, or those who
 furnished the capital, or most of the
 capital. A large part of the capital
 had been furnished by your citizens, or
 your State, or your municipalities or counties. It was then apparent, and is now apparent, that the benefits and convenience of railway transportation
 to an agricultural country, especially
 to communities living in an agricultu-
 ral country, are so desirable and so
 great that those who use those facil-
 ities can afford. and do sometimes con-
 tribute the capital when they know that the capital so contributed will be lost. They can only recoup their losses by the advantages and conven-
 fences reaped from the increased fa- ciIities.
 I have already commented upon the foresight. enterprise and courage of
 those who promoted the enterprises
 referred to-the citizens of Alabama.
 However, when they undertook to con- struct a road from Montgomery to
 Decatur, I fear they did not compre-
 bend the difficulties to be encountered.
 They went as far as they could, the
 amount. but they were unable with
 the aid of the State to complete the
 road. The promoters and directors en-
 tered into a contract with Sam Tate
 and associates whereby 1t was agreed
 that this firm or company should com-
 plete and equip the road and receive
 in payment bonds and other securities.
 MT. Tate had been. prior to the war, a
 successful railway promoter and man
 ager. having been Instrumental in the
 construction of the Memphis 6
 Charleston Railroad, and its President
 and active manager for many years.
 portant line, so far as volume of traf-
 fic was concerned, in the entire South. One of his associates, MT. Campbell
 Wallace, had also been railroad
 manager in East Tennessee before the
 war; was then citizen of Georgia, an
 able man, and I believe a man of some
 means. They expected to obtain the
 money to enable them to comply with
 their contract by the sale of the secu-
 rites they were to receive. They were
 unable to sell the securities, and al-
 though they had entered into con-
 tracts with constructors, and entered
 actively upon the work of construc-
 ton, had contracted for rolling stock,
 etc, they could not go on with It.
 That was some time in 1871. At that
 time the l.. & N. Railro d Company
 was operating a railroad from Louis
 vile to Nashville. and from Memphis
 Junction, or point near Bowling
 Green, to Memphis, with some other
 branches. Finding that with its large
 investment 1t was necessary to secure
 through or interstate traffic, and to
 actively engage in moving property
 between points on and beyond the Ohio
 River, and Chattanooga, Atlanta and
 beyond. To do this they had to inter-
 change traffic with the Nashville &
 Chattanooga Raihoad at Nashville.
 The Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad was also interested in what was known
 as the Nashville & Northwestern Rail-
 road. line extending from Nashville
 to Hickman, Ky. The management of
 that company deemed that the Inter-
 ests 1t represented would be promoted
 by diverting traffic, so far as it legiti-
 mately could, from Louisville and Cin-
 cinnati, or points reachesl via the L.. &
 N Railroad to St. Louis and other
 points; in other words. 1t was claimed
 by the l.. & N. that the N. c. Rail-
 road discriminated against 1t by exact
 ing higher proportional rates from Nashville to Chattanooga and be-
 yond than. it did on traffic
 the Nashville & Northwestern
 This rendered the management of the L. and N. Railroad desirous of an out to contract with Sam Tate and asso- ciates, and the South and North Ala bama Railroad Co.,, to complete the South and North Alabama Railroad and the securities which the contract gave to sam Tate and associates. The L. and N. Railroad Company carried out it's contract, completed the road, and Der, 1872 At that time there was a good deal of actlvity-wouldnt be con stdered much now, but it was then con sidered large traffic, more than we could move, at rates from 100 to 150 per cent more than now. The rate at the time I speak of on provisions was so cents per 100 pounds, Louisville to Montgomery; Is now 30 cents, and 1t e an fnTn ton cxrfT Ia being an important packing point. We had more than we could do, and had a great deal of difficulty in operating the new ! rfNv o r8ad. cad The paniG, of 1873 came no business. Now the cost of con structing the South and North Ala bama Railroad was very great. not like other roads that had been constructed Great Southern. The Alabama Great Southern Is in a trough, or valley. all the, way from Chattanooga to practi- ridges. These mountains and ridges run northeast and southwest as you know. The South and North Railroad cut across each one, so that 1t was up and down hill, bridges and everything except tunnels, and with the limited capital. a first-class road was not con structed; that Is. the road has heavy curvature excessive, and the cost very high; rails Gron rails) costing $90 per ton. Gold worth about $1.50. The re- suit was that the first cost of the South and North Alabama Railroad was very great The cost was very materially increased by the absolute lack of credit of the South and North Alabama Rail- road. and the not very good credit of the l.. and N. Railroad. The l.. and N. at that time, bought the bonds-took them in payment for the work done on the South and North Alabama Railroad -1 think for the Sterling Bonds. the and Road maid South and North S7 cents. The L. and N, endorsed them and took them to London and sold them, the first lot, at a price that net ted about SS or S4 cents, and the next lot at considerably less so that the discount on bonds was added to the cost of the road. It was supposed when the l.. and N. entered upon this hazardous and unfortunate venture, that the line was going to develop valuable miner als It was known that coal and iron ores existed in Alabama. They had never been developed and no one knew much about them. The road did cross where the veins are thin, the lower veins In the vicinity of Warrior Sta tion, which has never developed much traffic, nor have the mines been very profitable to the people who have op- erated them. They have struggled against the unfortunate condition of operating on thin veins, which mate rially increases the cost of mining, Grace's Gap. I have said that the transaction was d most unfortunate one for the L. and N. Railroad Company. It very nearly bankrupted 1t. Ii was with the greatest difficulty that the company succeeded in keeping from defaulting upon its obligations. It struggled as best 1t could having gotten itself Tn trap by entering upon the sons eonsstruc55 endorsing its (S. and NJ bonds. To extricate itself, it had to patiently en-