Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1839-03-14


mouwea,h, without reference the revenue to BE- de-
rived from them, but guided soleyby the conveniene.
and the interests Of its citizens well to carv
into execution comprehensive and ficieni system
Of popular educaten.
II The works now, or which may hereafter BE- m.
,horized to be constructed, shall be pushed forward
with the energy which should be exered, it NAV n.
confidently assumed, that, within four or five y.,,.
they may be respectively completed and in suees...
full operaton-the to the Ohio, and the o,he, \.
the Tennessee line,-from VIII ch moment If rail-
be placed upon the calculations and .,,
mates Of men of science as well Of practieatbu,;
ness habits, all charge upon tho treasury will no,
only cease, but It's own Golfers will be replepi,h.d
with the annually increasing revenue accrLins fran
their tolls. And. as the works progress the char.
for interest upon loans will be yearly diminished. /,
the tolls collected upon the deren, sections a. hsx
may be comp,ted and brough, into action. A soon.
for example, as that portion of the James river
between Richmond and Lynchburg, shall be op.i, =.
for navigation, will pay, in tolls, portion Of Tho
interes, upon the sum expended in its construction.
and the treasury will iha, extent, be relieved from
all charge upon that amount OF It's subscription to
the stock Of that company. And So likewise, il will
be- in relation 10 other sections Of the same line .,
they may be authorized by law TO collect tolls. until
it reaches its western termnus-each section a, il
is finished, relieving the treasury from the paymeu,
of II par, Of the interest upon the sum expended in
its construction.
Presuming that tho same process of gradual re.
ducon of,lc charge for ineres, may be anticipated
upon the south western rail road, should tie lesi,
laturc, at its present session, authorize ito eonsrue.
on ,oe repudiate the idea Traditional taralion for
meeting This charge. We think it just and proper
if an ineres-paying fund canno, be provided, with
out a resort increased taxation. (and in our opn.
ion nothing is more practicable that the improve
ments should be taxed with the entire cost of their
owe construction, and therefore that a sum should
be borrowed sufficiently large to pay both principal
and interest," during the process Of their cons,,uc.
ton. The principal objection to the plan herein
proposed is, that it will augment the cost Of ,hs,s
| improvements, a few hundred thousand dolars-an
objection which would be insurmoun,abe if,he OF.
jcc effect Of the plan were 10 impose additional
burthens upon the people, instead ofrelieving them
from the burthen altogether. This plan ay,indeed,
procrastinac, for two years. the period Of the
final redemption of the internal improvement dsbt
but that contingency had better be encountered than
to excite popular pre- judice against the works hem
selves by the imposition Of additional taxes espee-
ally upon those who contend tina, the legislature has
right portion Of the State for the bene-
fit Of ano,her-a Ios,on certainly sound in itself,
though, in reference to these Improvements, and TO
works of improvement generally, in our opinion
wholly misapplied. In plain terms. our proposition
is, TO charge The payment ofhe uhoe costs these i'm
prorements. interest included, upon The ,corks them
selves. As we entertain no, n shadow Of doubt that
| tho nett tolls which will be received from them
when completed, will be fully adequate for this pur
pose, we have just little that sound policy and
strict equity require that they shall encounter tho
entire responsibility. As the people, on the
hand, will have just reason to expect an entire
exemption from taxation, as a bonus for the loan
ofther credit, until the whole debt incurred by tho
construction Of these works shall have been defray,
ed, so the improvements. on the other hand have
right to ask the people 10 incur additional RESPONSE
bilities. in order to diminish the expense Of their
construction and to facilitate the final extingush
ment uf the debt.
! In conclusion, we beg leave to add, that Virginia
would prov ide the means of paying the debt which
she has already contracted under most improvident
and delusiye system-if she would strike de-
| clSIVc OiOW lot tHe recovery OF ncT iOsA sdnu-
| ing and infuencc-if she would develop her in
exhaustibe but buried resourccs-if she would
populate the lands of her western ceuniics-f
she would equaze the burthens Of taxation and f.
nally abolish all taxes-if she would extend the Ben
efts ofinternal improvement without charge upon
her treasury to every section Of the common eal,h
If she would diffuse the blessings Of education
among her people-if she would build up her sea
ports and her manufacturing towns, and win back
that foreign trade which was once hers but which
has been snatched from her grasp by more saga
cious and enterprizng rivals,-in one word, il she
would be- what God and nature intended she should
be, among the foremost if The first, in this con-
federacy of iepubIics,-she nust now make de \
sive and successful effort in the great and vitaf
cause Of internal improvemest-ihe only means BY
which she achieve these glorious results and AZ
rest her downward career
O. eput 1t to the csndor Of the Richmond
Enquirer to say, whether, in its opnion.-and no one
is more likely to know the fact than tina, paper,-at
any time, during the tendency ofthe Senatorial e
lection. The election Of Wing was possible II
that paper answers in the negative, all the caIeu
tons and estimates Of the Imprac ticablss will be
shown to have been utterly fallacious. II it answer
affimatvey Of ne essity admits that some OF the