Piney Woods planter. (Liberty, Mi. [i.e. Miss.]) 1838-1840, 1839-01-19

legislature" II is to be lamented that
such an anti-republican provision ,shoi,ld
have been incorporated in our fniidamen,
tai Law. II denies to the minority their
most sacred rights, and puts Il ID the pow
er Of the fer to retard the Improvement
oflbe country. respectfully scea shmeaa
that you propose to the people change OF
that odious section.
The whole State is intersectcd with
large rivers, containing no rapids, and il is
only necessary TO cut the logs from their
beds, and the pendant trees on their banks,
to make them navigable, for a great por-
ton Of the year, by steamboats,, and the
whole year by keel boats: navigation could
be had in every portion Of the State, and
no one would have to haul his products
far, in order to obtain transportation TO
the best markets, and procure his neces-
sary supplies. A bale of cotton can be
freighted thousand miles, on steam
boat, as cheap as it can be carried thirty
miles on railroad. Five hundred thous-
and dollars judicially expended in clearing
out the various rivers md creeks in the
State would be of more real benefit to the
people than the construction ofall the rail
roads now in progress ofcompletion. Those
who are so fortunate as to be situated near
good navigation ought net deny the means
necessary for the requirement Of equal adj
vantages to other portions of the State.
Railroaps are Of great convenience, and
always benefit the cities at their termina-
ton, but all experience proves that they
never can come in competition with steam
or keel boats in the transportation OF bulky
or heavy articles.
The railroads now in progress of COM
pletion are deserving of your favorable
consideration, The Vicksburg and Jack
son Rail Road will be completed during
the present year. and the Mississippi Raj
Road is advancing rapidly 10 completion
These companies have prosecuted theiI
several works in good faith, and, consider
ing the pressure Of the times, have done
much. The Grand Gulf and Port Gibson
the ST. Francisvile and Woodvile, and
the Mississippi and Alabama Rail Road
Companies, have prosecuted their several
works with bat little vigor, and the vari-
Gus other Rail Road and Banking Compa-
MES, have not even commenced the I'M
lrrjmeinents they are required to make.
Banking seems to be their entire object
and only care. Those companies striving
to construct the great improvements they
have undertaken, deserve your AID. No
taxes should be imposed upon them, and
| il deserves consideration, whether the Gre
dit Of the State should not be brought to
their relief. One Of the Rail Road Banks
already has been wholly, and others par
tally, relieved from making roads. This
policy is clearly wrong. Making public
improvements has always been the pre-.
tence for obtaining such charters, and in
strict Justice, exemptions from the burth-
en- should not be tolerated. The blending
of Banking and Internal improvement,
will, in the end, prove injurious to the
stockholders and the State. have never
favored the scheme, and my best refec-
tions have confirmed me in the opinion,
that it should be extended no farther. The
State, with her credit, could make all the
Rail Roads she requires; the rate of tolls
could then be kept under the control OF the
Legislature, and when the profits of the
work had Unidentified the State for the
cost Of construction, the road might be sur
] rendered to the free use of the people, OF
the profits paid into the State Treasury.
The Law, at present, is sealed book te
the great mass Of tho community; but few
even of the judges and other public off
GERS, IRE in possession of all the statutes
complete copies are not to be had--tht
unwritten Law still governs our Judges II
the adjudication OF cases. The labor o
many years is required to understand
what Laws govern us, and we have to EN-
ploy counsel at great expense to vindicatt
our rights. The Codes Of Justinian, o
Frederick of Prussia, of Napoleon, and o
Livingston, prove that Law can be writer
in Ineligible language, reduced to sys
tenn. and made capable to be understoo'
by oil who read. In the year 1888, tn
Legislature appointed Gen. P. Rutiius X
n Pray to ssamend the phraseolog the ex
isting statutes, and to prune, correct, an
arrange, alter and amend the provision
thereof, SO far as may be necessary to rem
] der the Code harmonious in itself, and con
sistent with the provisions Of the Revise
: Constitutions In pursuance Of that au
! thority, new code was prepared, and sub
mitted to the Legislature, two years nge
|, The arrangement OF the work admirable
! technical phrases are avoided--the Ian
i gurge Is plain and Ineligible, and an
one abIo to read could know the Law tina
4 guarantees to him his rights, hts propert
. and his liberty, should the code be adopte
: blythe Legislature. Strenuous objection
, have been made TO the proposed Revise