Greensborough Patriot

October 16, 1862

Page 2

 

The N. C. Railroad

            We learn that the gross income of this Road is now about $150,000 per month.  The importance of this Road at this time to our people, and to the Confederate cause, cannot be overstated.  We are glad to record the fact that it is prospering under its President, Mr. Webb, who is eminently a business man, and Mr. Summer, its energetic Superintendent.

            There are complaints, however, as to the running of the Road, which mainly from the fact that its sills and timbers are, to some extent, giving way.  These must be supplied by the ensuing winter, or the Road will not be able to dispatch the heavy business it will have on hand.  We learn that the slave labor along the line is not adequate to the work of supplying the sills and timbers, and that the Road will be obliged to rely for these indispensable articles on white labor.  But many of those who have contracted to furnish sills are conscripts.  Surely they will be detailed for this important work.  Such conscripts as these can be greatly more useful to the government in this capacity than they would be in the ranks, for the Road is transporting troops and munitions of war at half price, and any cessation of its operation would result in serious injury to the Confederate cause.  We are gratified to learn that Maj. Mallett fully appreciates these facts, and that his action in this respect will be prudent and liberal.

--Raleigh Standard—

 

[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]