The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-10-07

It's uIufc diOC
With the completion Of the Pan
anna Canal. the Inland Waterway. the
Harbor Of Refuge at Cape
and other internal improvements, the
States interest in the a. and n -
Railroad Company is the key to the
railroad situation in North Caroiina
Through the States interest the pri-
vate stockholders and the counties
owning stock have been protected No
extravaganza pond issues have been
made by which their property was
lost. The road today is bonded for
more than $325.0Oo. 1t could be
readily bonded for several million.
1t would be a simple manipulation OF
| finance for one of the modern
money barons to take hold of the ma
| iority of the stock in the A. and \. {.
for several millions of dollars and put
the money in his pocket and cause
the counties and Old-time private
stockholders TO lose their property.
The future value Of this property
car hardly be estimated. Our fore
fathers made the sacrifice of its cost
for Us. We should no, cheat poster
ity put Of it
Much has recently been said and
written about the excessive freight
rates charged by the railroads. in
\ tIiS Sldtt- L mas UctIl lila
the State established a boat line. The
proposition has merit. The United
States government is constructing the
inland waterway. Already it is COM
mitted to an appropriation OF more
than twenty million dollars for the
purpose of opening a twelve-foot
channel from all the rivers, sounds
and waterways on the Atlantic sea
board from Boston to Beaufort har-
Dor. This will be a free waterway.
Any small gasoline, fish or pleasure
boat or any large freight carrying
vessel or barge can traverse this
water course in perfect safety. The
operation Of an inland barge line With
no tolls to pay can be done at an
exceedingly low cost. Any half dozen
or less merchants in any town in
North Carolina can easily afford to
own one or more barges. The crew
of such a oat generally consists Of
two men, a captain and a cook
Barges through the inland waterway
are handled in large lows, sometime s
eight or ten Of them lowed by one
tugbOat. The captain often takes his
family along with him and in many
instances makes the boat his perma-
nent home.
Its Value to the State.
The State owns the majority Of the
stock in the A. and n. c., Railroad
Company running from Goldsboro t6
: Beaufort harbor. It also owns The
majority Of stock in the North Caro-
lima Railroad from Goldsboro tt
charlotte. It did own the Western
5 North Carolina Railroad from Sails.
bury It is perfectly feast
!, bic and practical to establish through
! the inland waterway from the nortf
low water rates to all water point.
. north Of the Cape Fear river. h
. includes to cities Of Beaufort, New
Bern, Washington, Edenton, Ply
mouth, Elizabeth City and a numbe-
of other smaller points. AS soon a.
r the inland waterway is opened to tn,
Cape Fear river Wilmington will b,
: included and this will doubtless b.
I done in the near future as we'll as tn
extension to the Florida coast.
Our forefathers who outlined an,
constructed our State railroads wer
Ifar-SeeinG, hroad-minded patriots
who did not e alone to benef
themselves. They builded railroad
y for tflesr own good and the welfare q
:, future generations. This A. and \
Z. Railroad is the key TO the situa
ton. 1t is worth more to the Stat
, than the North Carolina railroad O
= account of its strategic point. 1t con
meets with the Atlantic ocean and
= consequently available to all the port
of the world. It with tn
Inldnd waterway me is therefor
. available to all the rivers. sound,
creeks and inland waterways betwee
~ Boston and Massachusetts, and Bea,
- fort. y. c.. and the day is not "a
. distant when 1t will be connected +
= the Inland Waterway with all river
=. sounds. creeks and waterways o
Southern points TO Florid
~ and the Gulf OF Mexico.
a If it is necessary for the State
sell any Of its property, let it sell
\ million dollars worth of its North Ca,
Dina Railroad Company stock. r,
70 why should it sell any Of its railroa
property? The State and all of !
people are in a most prosperous co,
"A dition and its future prospects We,
- never brighter. Who suggested r.
proposition to sell? Who is agits+ir
- the sale? Who favors the sic T,
!, men who will profit by the sale Or,
posed the sale. The mo who a
proft by the sale agitate tho AL. IN