Tidioute, Pa. Feb 6, 1914

Col. H. B. Varner,
Lexington, N.C.

Dear Sir:

I have been advised that there is some inclination on the part of a few citizens in Wilkes County to oppose you in your congressional campaign on account of your attitude toward convict labor, etc. being furnished the Watauga & Yadkin River R.R. Company.

I wish you to know that I, personally, do not approve and it is not the intention of the officials of the Watauga & Yadkin River R.R. Co. to concur in such action. Your good roads campaign needs as much commendation as any other enterprise in your state and for this reason we have made no effort to oppose your position.

I have been very much interested in the miscellaneous information relative this situation and am of the opinion you are not entirely familiar with our situation. I would like very much to have the pleasure of meeting you on my next trip south, which will be in a few days, with a view of going over this entire situation, not with any intention of having you change your mind, so far as the Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad is concerned, but to impress you with the fact, if the opinion you have formed is correct, that your position should not be construed as unfriendly to the Western Counties. If there is anything I can do personally to prevent this, I will be pleased to do it.

Perhaps it might be well before meeting you to give you a little history of how we became interested in this Railroad:

A number of years ago, I paid a visit to Blowing Rock during the month of August. At the time I was there the citizens of Watauga County were holding a Railroad meeting, being curious as to what this meeting meant I attended it. As you know, the citizens of the mountain country, having been isolated without a railroad so long, were endeavoring to work out some scheme to build a railroad up the mountain. Their plans were well intended, but entirely impractical so far as ever being able to finance a railroad was concerned. Thru the efforts of Capt. Edmund Jones of Lenoir and Messrs. Coffey and Linney of Boone, I became interested in the proposition. I had traffic experts go over the territory and make careful reports. The reports being favorable I then met with the parties who had procured the Railroad charter by the Act of Legislature in which the state agreed to furnish a certain number of convicts to help build this road.

In reply to my statement that if I undertook to build and finance this road, what I could expect from the citizens of this territory, the following proposition was received:

That if I would undertake the financing and building of this road the citizens of the country would guarantee the entire right of way, furnish one hundred fifty convicts and vote $100,000 of Watauga County Railroad aid bonds.

As the traffic report showed that the Railroad in going to Boone would go thru a rough mountain country with practically no freight for about fifteen miles, except forest products, it became necessary in order to produce traffic on every mile of this road to open up the timber development of which you have doubtless heard.

I might add that in no instance have the conditions of the proposition made me by the citizens been complied with in full. I have always maintained the position that it was not up to me or the Watauga And Yadkin River Railroad Company to produce the convicts.

Now then to make along story short: there has been a great deal of talk about building a lumber road. Our reports show that a lumber road for the purpose of developing the entire tract of timber which the Grandin Lumber Company own, starting at a point on the C & N.W. near Warrior's Gap, or Indian Grave Gap, with sufficient logging road to properly develop the property, could be constructed not to exceed a cost of $350,000.00 including the track and equipment. Up to date we have expended over $700,000.00 on the present road. We are operating between North Wilkesboro and the town of Grandin. We have the grade practically completed ten miles from Elkville to Darby toward the mountain. We have the rail and material on hand to finish the line to Darby. Our surveys, of which we have made three careful and expensive ones, show that in order to get a grade which varies from 2.2% to over 3% it will be necessary to run sixteen to twenty one miles of track between Darby and Cook's Gap. I believe the short distance between these points is about ten miles. Our engineers report that eight miles of this road on the mountain will cost us about $70,000.00 per mile.

In other words, to complete the plan of development it will take an investment of $3,500,000.00 which includes the entire cost of the road and the necessary equipment to operate the same on an economic basis.

If we did not believe that this road would pay dividends on the stock after a few years we would not have become interested. The railroad at present is moving sufficient traffic to pay its operating expenses, altho it is not as yet getting any freight traffic from the Grandin Lumber Company which will be its heaviest shipper. There is no doubt from these reports that the Railroad will be able to carry its investment upon the completion of the line, after the Lumber Company is in operation.

The stopping of the work was due entirely to financial conditions. It was impossible for us to obtain money to carry out our plans, except at exorbitant rates. The financial conditions have now somewhat eased, so we believe that in a short time we will be able to go ahead with our work again.

The writer has never laid any great stress upon the building of this road by convicts, while we find it very desirable labor, the amount of convicts allowed by special act of the Legislature is not of sufficient amount to build much railroad and the only way to build this railroad and make it a success is to build it as quickly as possible and to develop the country at the same time.

Now in financing the railroad: All of the cash which has been advanced to date, has been advanced by the writer and the Grandin Lumber Company. We have a contract for the purchase of Railroad bonds, but these cannot be issued owing

First To the financial conditions that have existed the past four or five months.

Second Until the Justice Freight Rate Act shall have been disposed of and a decision rendered favorable in our particular case.

Third Owing to the adverse result of damage suits and apparent opposition by prominent citizens of state, fulfilling their contract as to convicts, which our bankers feel is entirely unjust and unwarranted.

They take the position that after we have furnished a certain amount of capital the state should furnish a fair amount of labor, as the proposition came from citizens in a locality in whose development the state is vitally interested.

I am in this position: That it is not up to us to go to the time and expense of trying to produce these convicts, that if the convicts are not produced, after the proposition coming directly from the citizens of that section of the state, then they should not be disappointed if we do not carry out the contemplated plans. I do not hesitate to say that if we depended on the convicts alone to build this road over the mountain, it would be a long time before the road would be completed.

Our reports show that there is over a million yards of earth and rock to be removed, a number of tunnels, a good many high trestles and it will take, with a large force of men, at least two years to build it. We do not expect to depend on the convicts to do it. The fact that the state does furnish us convicts indicates that the state officials are in hearty sympathy with the enterprise.

Relative the good roads movement. I am heartily in sympathy with it. I believe that the great draw back to the state of North Carolina, especially the western section, is the lack of proper road facilities for getting the produce and miscellaneous stuff to market. Good roads will be a great help to the Railroad in that section. Prosperity always follows good roads.

It was not my intention to take up so much of your time, but I have felt for some time that your attitude toward us was caused from lack of inside information.

The great draw back in the western section of North Carolina is the lack of development. Capital is timid at all times when the least opposition arises, and the only way to bring about this great development which the western section of the state so badly needs, is by bringing capital to it and this can only be done by the hearty cooperation of all concerned.

Very Respectfully yours,

[W. J. Grandin]
President'

WJG:SWL