| From the Galveston News |
| |
| August 20, 1861 |
| |
| The Railroad Freights |
| Messrs. Editors, |
| I have just been shown some
freight bills of our railroads that it may be of interest to the
public to have explained. These bills show that the charge from
Alleyton to Harrisburg {Buffalo Bayou, Brazos
& Colorado RR}, a distance of about eighty miles, is more than
three times as much as from Harrisburg to Galveston Galveston,
Houston & Henderson RR}, a distance of
over fifty miles. That is, the charge per sack of corn, from Alleyton
to Harrisburg, is 40 cents, and from Harrisburg to Galveston only 12
1/2 cents. I understand the charge on the former road is the full
extent of all the law allows, that is, 50 cents per 100 lbs. for one
hundred miles, while the charge on the latter road is less than
one-half what the law allows. |
| I do not write to make any
complaint, as I do not know that there is any body to blame, but think
some explanation is needed. I understand the charges on the Central
road are the same as on the Harrisburg road; that is, all the law
allows. |
| The people of our city are
interested in this subject, as they must now depend on the country for
all the supplies they can have during the blockade. I believe the
present charges in getting corn to this city, from the nearest
adjoining counties, amount to nearly the first cost; and if the
Galveston road charged as much as other roads, the charges together
would perhaps exceed the amount paid to the planter. |
| There are now many people in
our city actually suffering as they have been thrown almost entirely
our of employment, upon which alone they depend for the support of
their families. To these the country is rendering such assistance as
it can. Corn is a very important article, and one would suppose it
ought to be had at a very moderate price when the supply in the
country is abundant, but thus far I have heard of none selling for
less than 80 to 100 cents per bushel, which is about the same we have
heretofore got it from a distance of some 2000 miles from the upper
Mississippi, with re-shipment and heavy freight from New Orleans. |
| The present condition of our
city has prostrated all business, and while all of us are thus cut off
from every source of ordinary income, we have to meet many extraordinary
expenditures for the defences of the Island. Under such circumstances
it is to be hoped that we may be able to get the means of subsistence
without being subjected to unreasonable charges. |
| B. |
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