St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1906-09-29
SHORT-slGHTED POLICY OF
HOLDING UP RAILROADS.

4 This policy not only retards the
progress of the railroad being held
up, but it tends to place community
j in bad odor with other railroads, as
well as enterprises of other nature,
to the general detriment Of the peo-
/ pie and of the country.
The fact that corporation is seek
ing a franchise should not beaa signal
for everybody to begin calculating
how it can be skinned, inst because it
is a corporation, and has the money
to pay the price asked: That money
is theirs, and it is natural that they
should spend it as sparingly as any
dl1ary individual. Ifathey Were held
upIeveryWhere they went why, they
could not stand the drain on their
E7pile,' and railroads building and other
Enterprises of that sort would have
to stop.
sNs<know of instances where lands
Mere hardly worth on the4narket $40
an acre, and when the railroad en-
deayored to buy right-of-way over
them as high IS S75 per acre was
asked. 4
This isRot right. No country will
succeedfat this game. Capital will
AVOID such territory, They will 60
Wheye they are Wflcome-Where the
people will treat Them as they would
feat any other purchaser.
The bustling little city of Crowley
lis evidently feeling the hand Of the
railroad bandit just now, and the
Crowley Signal Of last Saturday con-
tains the following timely editorial:
The Signal notes with regret that
there is a disposition in some quarters
to not meet the Colorado Southern
railroad halfway in the effort to secure
right Of way for the branch from
Eunice to this city. The road can ex-
propriate and force the line through
but the officers would much rather
secure what they desire on a friendly
basis. We cannot afford to ignore
advances Of that character and in
that spirit. The construction Of the
road means too much to this section
to take any course which might drive
it away and which would certainly
make its officers feel that the line is
at all unpopular and unWelcome. Such
an attitude, of course, would not re-
feet the sentiment Of this community
but a disposition here and there to1
place obstacles in the way of seeur-
ing right-of-Way naturally would |
tend to make the Colorado Southern
people feel that the people were far
from being unit on the desirability
of getting the line. In this connec-
tion it is well to remember that one
of the matters which has up to date
prevented the construction Of the Cen
tral Railroad of Louisiana was the ex-
horbitant prices asked for strips of
land through sections which produce
but little. Work was stopped on the
project after construction had begun
and thousands Of dollars had been
spent. Crowley has no eineh on the
Colorado Southern, even though ex-
tensive preparations have been made
to build into this city. The Signal
believes in every man who feels that
he cannot afford to give the right of
way outright receiving fair price
for his property. The Colorado South
ern and the citizens committee, which
is working in conjunction with that
line in getting right Of way, feel the
same way; but it is the height Of folly
to allow few dollars difference here
and there stand in the way of enlanci-
pating the people Of this entire sec
ton so far as excessive freight rates
are concerned.
The Signal undertakes to say that
the saving in a short period to the
people on this one item alone will
actually pay the cost Of the entire
right Of way besides adding to the
value Of every farm along the line.
ssTa mt. meet the CoIorada So1ltb- I