Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1840-04-09
SENATE OF VIRGINIA.


tain public Depots upon the line Of their
Road IN the County of Jefferson, being
under consideration,
Mr.. BoULDIN asked some explanation
: ofihe object and purposes Of the bill /;
when debate Of considerable length
sprung up, in which Messrs. FAULnSER,
SMITH, Of Culpeper, ORR, and CLARKE,
participated.
Mr.. SMITH, Of Culpeper, then submit
ted the following as an amendment to the
bill
| Provided, however, that il shall not be
lawful to establish said Depots, or either
OF them, until tho Baltimore and Ohio
Rail Road Company shall have paid such
sum or sums of money Tor provided salts.
iactorily for the payment Of the same) to
! the Winchester and Potomac Rail Road
| Company, as, in the opinion Of the Board
| Of Public Works, will indemnify the latter
Company Tor such diminution of its tolls,
MS may result from the establishment Of
snch Depots, or either Of them.'
Mr. SMITH stated that the amendment
he had submitted, contained principle
SO plainly equitable and just as must com.
mand, he should hope, the assent Of eve.
ny member oftae Senate. The Wnches-
ter Company had invested its capital upon
the implied assurance, that nothing should
unnecessarily be done to impair the value
ofthe investment. The act Incorporating
the Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road, dis
tnctly concerns this principle, and the
interest of the Commonwealth, as stock
holder ard creditor, demands that il should
be carefully preserved. He trusted, there
fore, the amendment would be adopted
! Mr.. FAULKNER said he wished to re-
cord his vote against that amendment,
containing, as it did, the most odious and
undsguised principle of monopoly which
he had ever heard advanced in the Senate
OF Virginia. 1t was tantamount to the
declaration, that the trade, commerce,
and business of the County of Jefferson,
of right, now belonged, under its charter
to the Winchester and Potomac Rail Road
Company; and that no portion Of the
trade, thus secured by charter privi-
lege, could ever, al any future time, be
Invested from that corporation without
payment and indemnity to the corpora
tors for the loss thereby sustained--a pro.
position which he considered too mon.
strous to gue.-Besdes, with such q
provision, the bill would be utterly worth.
less. He called for the ayes and noes.
And the question being taken upon the
amendment, it was adopted by the follow
| ing vote:
AYEs-Mcssrs. Nash, (Speaker) Cooke, Camp
bell, Hunton, Carson, Atkinson. Bonduraut Poul-
son, Smith, Opie, McCamant, BouIdin, Dyer, Car
ter, Moaett, Bland, Woodhonse, Scott, Fontan-
| 49,
NoEs-Messrs. Peyton, Wiley, Faulkner, Nell
haney, Thompson--5
Mr.. SMITH moved the indefinite post.
ponement OF the bill, and remarked, that
no supposed the Senator from Berkeley
would go for indefinite postponement, in.
asmuch, as, in his opinion, the amendment
substantially destroyed the bill. Mr.. S.
would, however, remark that he could not
see the subject in the light presented by
that Senator. Was the refusal 10 grant
what the bill demands, monopoly p
Was it injustice to the people of Jeffer-
son? That people, MIR. S. said, had but
little cause of complaint. With the Ca
nal on one side, two Rail Roads, one or
more Turnpikes, and the noble Shenan.
! doah penetrating their little County in
different directions, it seemed to him they
had ample advantages advantages not
possessed by any other people in the State,
which should not only prevent complaints,
but should give entire satisfaction. Mr..
s. said the people Of Jefferson had aided
in bringing the Winchester Road into OK.
stence, and had thereby induced others
to invest in the enterprise; and it was,
therefore, ungenerous in them, for small
advantage to themselves, TO desiie mea-
sure calculated seriously to affect the in
terests and prosperity of the Winchester
Company, already struggling under load
Of debt and difficulty, which threatens its
very existence.
Mr.. FAULKNER stated, that he would
vote against the indefinite postponement
OF the bill, although he still thought it was
worthless in its present state. The amend.
ment destroyed the bill, because the Bal.
timore Company would not accede to the
terms imposed by it. The House OF De.
egates might yet correct the error. He
had no doubt they would do so, and afford
this body another opportunity to revise
the opinion hastily expressed In the amend
ment just adopted. This application did
not originate with the Baltimore and Ohio
Rail Rond; but came from large and
respectable portion of the citizens of JEFF.
ferson, who felt themselves aggrieved by
the existing legislation on that subject
1t was their rights-not the rights Of the
Baltimore Company which were affect.
ed by this obnoxious and most odous re.
striction. He thought the trifling pecuni-
airy benefit it secured to the Winchester
and Potomac Rail Road Company (and he
was himself friend to that Improvement