The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1906-02-07
TWO SIDES TO 1T.
The Editor of Cotton" Tells What the
Roads Have Done.


H. E. Harmon in Cotton"
Many people forget that there are
two sides to the railway question. The
south to-day is reaping harvest OF
prosperity. A great part of this is the
fruit of seed sown by the railways ten
and twenty years ago.
All the roads have encouraged the
building of cotton mills by giving very
low rates on machinery, on raw cotton
and on the manufactured goods.
Every large road keeps a force ofmen
to bring in new settlers, new indus
tries and new capital. See how the
Southern railway brought western
North Carolina, the land of the sky,
to the attention of the world and made
it one of the best known health resorts
anywhere. ...
Over ten years ago Mr.. T. M. EN-
erson, now president of the Atlantic
Coast Line, but then traffic manager,
got me to assist in interesting the
farmers along the road in the Carroll
mas in tobacco culture. Cotton was
then 6 cents a pound. The road en-
couraged tobacco growing in every
way, and inside of ten years the to-
bacco crop along the Coast Line was
$4,000, 900 pounds of the finest leaf in
the world.
The Central of Georgia has made
Georgia the greatest of all peach grow
ing states. This company built
branches into the orchards, and with
its connections runs fast special
trains in the season to hurry the fruit
to market. have known the South
ern to run special with just one car
of fruit 200 miles so that it would not
be held over few hours for regular
train.
Had it not been for Mr.. Flagler's
investment of millions in building the
Florida East Coast Road all that
part of the state would still be unde-
veloped, inaccessible and thinly set
tied with a poor population instead
of being, as it is, highly prosperous
section.
He had to wait for wears to get any
return on his money, while the fruit
and vegetable growers got immediate
returns on their investment.
| could mention a dozen other roads
which have done like work in helping
to upbuild the south, but all of the
instances would be along the same
line as the above. The SeabOard for
years has kept large force working
all the time to build up Industries and
locate factories. The Illinois Central
has done the same, so has the Atlanta
&West Point. the Georgia, the Queen
& Crescent, the Louisville & Nash
VILE, the Mobile & Ohio and others.
The Louisville & Nashville perhaps
did more than any other factor IN de-
velOping the great iron and coal In
dustry in Alabama, and yet for this
work we have never heard that road
or its official given any credit what
ever. The Illinois Central has for
wears been foremost in developing the
vegetable growing business IN the Mis-
sissippi valley.
When one looks squarely in the face
of such results as [ have pointed out
above, and will allow his sense OF JUS
tice to have any play whatever, it
seems impossible to arraign the rail
roads as cheat, and'common robbers.
Every mill that has been built, every
orchard that has been planted, has en-
CHANGED the value of etery acre for
miles around it, and millions OF people
have shared in this EXCHANGED value
of property alone. And yet many of
these people are the first to rise up
and clamor for legislation that would
cripple the roads in the great work
they are doing.