Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1839-03-23
Firm. the Baltimore american, yHarch Is }


Committee ct Ways and Means, ny Its able Chairman
Mr. Page The rcpor, founded on the memorial OF tue
Canal and Railroad Companies, addressed 10 Tue Lee,s
ature in the early part OF The SESSION. anu h'es's to
PRAYER of the memoalisls by recommending That me
Certificates of The per cenum Currency Stock created
by the act of 1875. cha pier 49, should De cha"geu W
per cenlum Sterling Stock
The crowded state OF our columns prevents Us ''","
publishing The report entire, but the following extracts
from it will show that il is characterised by The same IL
beral spirit and sound wisdom which have heretofore
ma ked the views and action Of The Committee
The Committee of Ways and Means, 10 winch was
referred the memorial Of the Chesapeake aud Oho
Canal Company the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Gem
panv, the Annapolis and Elk Ridge Railroad Compa'
nv and the Eastern Shore Railroad Company, praying
some modification of the aci of 1885 chapter SO, so as
TO rende- available the subscription on the part oil The
State The said companies respectfully ask leave 10
present the following Report, with The accompanying
bill:
The Committee have given TO the application Of The
mernoaiis,s that consideration which the importance
of the subject demanded. BY The law entitled An
Act for the promotion of Internal improvement, pass
ed at December Session, S33 chapter go. eight mil
lions of dollars subscribed by the Stale TO the
several Internal Improvement Companies therein men
toned.
During the sitting Of the next succeeding Legislature,
the subscription The Annapolis and Potomac Canal
Company released by the said Company, IN consi-
dcraon that the State would subscribe 10 the Annap"-
lis and Elk Ridge Railroad Company, the sum Of three
hundred thousand dollars. The Marya Canal Com
prny entitled to their contingent because they
have failed to comply with the conditions precedent, IN
posed by the law for the promotion OF Internal Improve
ulent. TO obtain the necessary means TO pay the
amount of subscription 10 the several companies en'l-
ted commissioners were delegated TO negotiate loan
either in this country IN Europe. They were not au
,horzed sell The said certificates OF stock or bonds oi
the State, for amount less than the par price, and
premium OF twenty per centum. Being unable 10 ne
rotate them in this country they repaired 10 Europe in
discharge of their usl; but the price limited could not
then and cannot now be obtained, in any market Tor
stock OF a like description.
The stock created by the Internal improvement law
six per cenlum currency STOCK the Interest pay
able in Europe To give availability TO the subscription
the part Of the State, the committee recommend The
enactment OF the hill accompanying this report by The
effect of which the stock will he changed from Six pei
centum currency stock 10 five per ceuurn pound ser.
ling stock Inc interest paybIe semi-annually i'll Lon
don, and The principal payable at The same place This
change in the vendIbe character Of the stock will ena-
bic the several companies TO obtain The amount OF sales
early period and 10 complete the works OF Internal
Improvement with ell possible despatch
In The report which this committee had the honor Il
submit Ia the Legislature, the Finances OF The State
they pressed with great catneslness the obvious neccss
y s al console atoms, OF The early completion OF lh
several great works Of Internal Improvement in who's,
construction so large an amount OF the States capita
and credit have been embarked The langud and eehI,
effort which has characterized the action Vi the Slate
and is still anticipated by Pennsylvania III her future
rliOns the completion vi The Baltimore ana pJit
Railroad offers The greatest inducrment 10 that State to
undertake the gigantic work Of constructing RaI!r0aC
from Chanbersburg 10 PiIisbnrg The Senate OF that
more energetic and entepsng Siate has already intro
duced bill which, among other things makes an aP
preparation for the construction OF the Road from Pitts
burg eastward toward Greehshurg, and thus providing
for the establishment OF rival Oad for The great West
ern trade.
II the State without delay will extend 10 the dstIn
linguishet gentleman who has the charge of this
stupenduous work. the requisite facilities hope th,
energy and promptDeSs with which We know this under
taking will be prosecuted by him. will induce Pennsy
varla to abandon this contemplated work. The local
advantages OF Baltimore City over Philadelp hla IN com
peting for the trade of the West would them Il
abandon antagonist enterprise which can ID accom-
Pushed only at the immense cost OF more than tw eive
millions of dollars Should this opinion not be grahet
by sister Stale the necessity Of ready and energetic
action is less imperious Every consideration require
il al our hands.
The speedy obainment of The money is of great i'm
ror,ance to the companies generally but, TO The int
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, 1t
of vital consequence. About two millions If dollars o.
the States Certificates of stock bonds have been by
po,hecad in Europe and in this country the periods
of payment have already been extended al ncrcnscc
Of interest and there danger apprehende0
Tia, they may be forfeited disposed of great
rice, by sale forced 10 pay the debt for which they
were pledged.
The bill which is presented 10 the consideration
Of the Legislature obIiges the companies 10 pay thu
transportation of the interest, the difference in the rates
of exchange and the incident 10 the negotiation
of the loan also provides that the commissioner there
by appointed shall! pay the Treasury Of The Stale ol
the purposes of general educann the excess above thu
nett millions three hundred thousand dollars, thu
contemplated by the net Of lS&5, chapter 3.5. J!
no unexpected change take place the rates Of ex
change Of currency between the two countries, the
will probably be not very inconsiderabe. Some
statements made in this report exhibit the pr0prIe
~ Of enacting the bill now presented.
o. The Bill accompanying the above Report shall
be published tomorrow. IL appoints the Hon Louis
NJ Lane as Commissioner To negotiate the certIii
ca,es-than which more judicious and generally
ccptablc selection could not be made.
THE TRlUMpHS OF LABOR
We have rarely seen the mighty results Of The labor
of s'rk'ngly elucidated than in the G,llow-
ing extract from address by Henry Coleman Of Mas.
sachusets several agricultural Societies OF that Stale,
assembled at their annual festival last October. We
find it in the New England Farmer:
"Two years since, traversed The great Erie Canal
from one end the other; iualed the waters of the
Ohio Canal and returned 10 the shore by The Pitts
burg and PenDsy vana Canals and Railroads What q
magnificent excursion What mighty trumphs Of art
and labor are here. What moving Of the affections
What an expanding of the Imagination How many
bea uluI ard splendid visions have hoaed before the
mind which hare surpassed by the great realities
Here were deep basins excavated and noble and long
stretching entertainments, which 5vaed the neg hborinr
hills Here rivers, hundreds Of miles in length,
flowing at man 8 pleasure, and in channels formed by
his hands. Here streams crossing streams on
beautifully arched aqueducs Here were mountains of
granite 1;erced through and through, and passage
opened through The heart of adamanlne barriers for We.
hcles freighted with human life
"Here were deep inland oceans mingling their waters
with the mighty haI s~eeps from pole TO pole and
bearing upon their quiet tides thousand floating and
deeply laden arks myriads Of human beings active in
the pursuit of business peasu-e accumulatons Of
wealth from the deep and tangled Of the Forest
now first springng into life under the touch of civlliza
lion. from the gl,ering field of polar ice and from the
shores of the Western Ocean; Accommodations, whose
growing exlen, defes all calculation All this, loo, is
the work Of little animal of the ordinary height Of
sixty inches with only feet and two hands, and Of
average duration Of life less than twenty years His
mighty implements in these great exploits, were, only
kind of Robinson Crusoe assortment. hoe pckaxe
and spade Such are the great results of intelligent,
concentrated severing labor; achievements Of our
own times and scarcely quarter Of a century old