| From the New Orleans Times Picayune |
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| February 28, 1862 |
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| Our Railway Connection with Texas |
| We are so deeply impressed
with the paramount importance of this subject to the best interests,
not only of New Orleans and of Louisiana, but of this entire
Confederacy, that we make no apology for so frequently making it the
topic of remark in these columns. |
| We have already acknowledged
the receipt of the report for the year 1861, of the President and
Directors of the New Orleans, Opelousas & Great Western Railroad
Company, and at the same time promised to refer, with some
particularity, to its contents. This we propose now to do. |
| The Vice President, A. B.
Seger, Esq., reports to the President, William G. Hewes, Esq., that
the labors of the officers and employees, during the past year, have
been eminently successful, in point of safety, economy and dispatch;
that no material damage to the property of the company has been
sustained from accidents, nor has the slightest injury occurred to
either passengers or employees; that the work upon the track has been
fully equal to the wear and decay, and the whole is at present in fine
order; that the engines, passengers and freight cars of all kinds are
also in good order, the repairs, at all times, having been fully equal
to their depreciation from use, and that the station buildings and
platforms are all in a good state of preservation. |
| The report also shows that the
gross earnings are $80,138.21 less than those last year. This arises
solely from the interruption of the Texas steamers by the blockade,
that part of our business having fallen off $85,622.37, while the
local earnings have increased $5,484.16. |
| This last statement is one
pregnant with reflection, speaking volumes in favor of the immediate
completion and extension of this great work of internal improvement
between New Orleans and Texas. |
| President Hewes, introducing
this report, in one of his own, to the stockholders, states (as the
reports which follow perfectly demonstrate,) that the affairs of the
company are now in the best condition, and the prospects for the
future very encouraging. The President says, in the course of his
report: |
| A telegraph line has been
established between Algiers and New Iberia, to connect with
another line extending to Texas, and both will soon be in full
operation. |
| A company having been recently
incorporated for the purpose, there is now a fair prospect of
an early construction of a road from New Iberia to the Sabine,
which when in operation must add greatly to our revenues. |
|
| He also says: |
| The Legislature, as authorized by
an ordinance of the late Convention, has passed an act for the
payment, in bonds, of the balance of its subscription to the
stock of this company, say $550,000. This is a very important
measure, as it adds about half a million to the available
capital of the company, and will prove highly advantageous to
the State, as is clearly shown in the convention statement
herewith. With this fund for the purchase of iron, we can go
on with our present means, as fast as realized, in preparing
the road bed for the rails, about 65 miles beyond our
completed road being now ready. These resources are the
remaining bonds of the company, balances yet due and unpaid on
stock subscriptions, and 700,000 acres of very valuable lands.
Applications are now on file for a large amount of these
lands, and as we progress with the construction of the road
through them, they will be rapidly disposed of. |
|
| A note to the President's report shows the gross
earnings of the year were |
$401,783.00 |
| The operating expenses |
199,054.00 |
| Making nett earnings |
$202,729.00 |
| or about 50 1/2 per cent. |
|
| Ferriage reduces gain to |
$164,079.00 |
| or about 41 per cent. on gross earnings |
|
|
| The number of bonds sold to
date, (Dec. 31, 1861,) is 1165, and the floating debt is in a rapid
process of reduction. Contracts are now making, the report adds, for
the completion of the roadbed to Opelousas within the present year. |
| This is a good showing, and
should have the effect of securing at the earliest possible moment the
entire consummation of the great work of railway intercommunication
with Texas, of which the Opelousas road is a part. This road, when
completed, will be two hundred and eighty-five miles in length, and
will connect the Red River valley, Southwestern Louisiana, Northern
and Northwestern Texas, and all Southern and Middle Texas. With its
small capital of three and a half to four millions, it must pay heavy
dividends. In a military point of view, this road is a necessity, for
(as has been well said by another) without it Texas might as well be
at the Rocky Mountains, if troops have to march 500 miles overland in
case of war. The rapid concentration of troops, at any point in the
Confederate States, is of the greatest importance. And commercially,
this railway connection with Texas is a necessity to New Orleans and
to Louisiana, if we are to maintain New Orleans as the great centre of
trade of the Southwest -- the exporting and importing depot of the
Southern States. |
| From Chief Engineer and Land
Agent Balley's report, we gather some interesting particulars. It says
that, by July next, about 75 miles of roadway will be graded and ready
for the track, and the whole 85 miles, extending from Berwick's Bay to
Opelousas, can be graded by October or November next. The balance due
of the State's subscription would furnish the rails for this 85 miles
of road, and leave the Opelousas Company in a condition to complete
their road to Texas without embarrassment or loss of time. |
| The State now owns 1,400,000 acres
of land within the limits of the Opelousas Railroad grant, or
twice the amount belonging to the railway company. Fully
1,000,000 acres of this is within the "six mile
limits," and if sold at a minimum of $2.50 per acre, the
price fixed on the same by the late United States, after the
building of the railroad, would realize to the State
$2,500,000; add the remaining 400,000 acres at $1.25, and the
total is $3,000,000. Nearly the whole of this land is at
present unsaleable, and will be so till the railroad is
finished, then it will sell rapidly. |
|
| It should be remembered, too,
that the extension of the Opelousas road ensures also the completion
of the Louisiana division of the Texas & New Orleans Railroad,
extending from Houston, Texas, to a junction with the Opelousas road. |
| It is cheering, indeed, to be
able to prognosticate, with so much certainty as we now may, the early
completion of this great line of absolutely necessary internal
improvement. The extension of the Opelousas road to Opelousas, the
completion of the Louisiana division, extending from Houston to a
junction therewith, and the construction of one from New Iberia to the
Sabine, which is in a most promising way, thanks to the liberality of
our enterprising fellow-citizens, may now be looked upon as fixed
facts, and the fruition which is to flow from their influence may be
considered as almost within our grasp. |
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