| From the Savannah Republican |
| |
| March 10, 1863 |
| |
| Charleston, March 6 |
| .
. . Our southern railways are beginning to feel the wear and tear of
the war to an extent that must give rise to serious apprehensions for
the future. The
locomotives and rolling stock, as well as the rails on many of the
roads, are fast wearing out, and but little effort is being made in
any quarter to replace them. So
far has this deterioration proceeded, that it has been found necessary
to adopt a new schedule on the lines between
Richmond
and
Montgomery
, the object of which is to reduce the rate of speed and allow more
time for the trains to make connections.
The change, while it lessons the speed and increases the time,
will render the connections more certain, and thereby really expedite
both travel and the mails. |
| You
will remember that the attention of railway companies and the
government was called to this subject, nearly a year ago, in one of my
letters from the West. The
evil has been allowed to continue, however, and now the roads are
barely able to do the transportation of the government.
What will be their condition a year hence?
Iron bars and iron locomotives, like human hearts and muscles,
will wear out in the course of time.
If something be not done soon the enemy, whose means of
transportation are abundant both by land and water, will have greatly
the advantage of us in the rapid movement of troops. |
| The
roads in Georgia
have not been so heavily vexed as those in other States, and are
therefore in comparatively good condition.
In this, as in her freedom from invasion, the State has been
singularly fortunate. The
Charleston & Savannah road, and the Charleston and Northeastern
road {the Northeastern RR}, were just completed when the war broke out, and with certain
lateral lines in other States, are in good condition; but with these
exceptions, the condition of the railroads in the Confederate States
is of a character to excite the serious concern, and call for prompt
action, both of the government and the people. |
| If
some other plan should not be adopted, it may become necessary for the
companies owning the lines chiefly used by the government, to buy the
iron, locomotives and cars on the branch roads, in order to repair
their tracks and keep up their rolling stock.
The government itself may intervene, and require the parties to
come into such an arrangement. . . . |
| P. W. A. |
|