Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1842-12-15

GOVERNORS MESSAGE.
Executive DEPARTMENT, I
December LIST, 1912. y
FeYoy Citizens of The Senate
r L n l..

anu (iChsf Of btttSAtcS'
By the failure Of the last Legislature
20 Gil the office Of Governor, then vacant,
the duties Of iha, Office deyoyed on me,
and in pursuance Of one Of those duties,
now proceed, under the requirement Of
the Constitution, to call your attention to
the consideration Of such subjects as |
deem expedient.
Whilst there arc many topics which |
might discuss aud present to your consld-
Grafton, yet there are only few subjects
which deem Of sufficient magnitude to
occupy large space in communication
Of this character, and in relation to these,
even, shall be as brief as possible.
10 selsuoa 10 all merely local cues
tons, you being fresh from the people,
know better than | possibly can their
wants, and | am confident that with q
knowledge Of the wants OF the people, |
need not urge upon you any specIbc
course. You and are alike, the Repre-
sen,atives and Agents Of the people, selec-
sed by them TO do their business, and ii
becomes Us either to carry into effect their
wishes or return TO them the Offices we hold,
that they may be filled by such persons
as can consistently with their sense of
right conform their actions to the views of
the constituency. If any other theory
than this be adopted, all proper restraint
over the representative is destroyed, and
the people instead Of being sovereign, be.
come the mere tools Of political asplrants,
Ia time of profound peace, which has
continued for maay years, with abundant
crops, daily development Of new sour
ces Of wealth, and n pleihoric condition
of the money market of the world, we
iind ourselves greatly involved IN debt
and property Of almost all sorts reduced
ia value, and the credit Of the State and
People nearly annhilated.
The question naturally presents itself:
Why is this condition Of things, and by
whose agency has it been produced :
Our citizr rs, all divided into political
parties, charge each other with being the
cause; and am very much inclined 10
believe that in this there is much justice.
If wa look abroad for solution Of our
condition, we can find nothing ia the his
tory Of the past, from which we can draw
the least aid. Look TO England to
which, perhaps, we have accustomed our
selves 10 look too much already-and "hat
do we see "A nation with mineral and
agricultural resources hardly exceeding
Virginia, with public debt about twenty
times as large as the debts of the Federal
ard State Governments altogether, Dor
rowing money Of any OF the nations Of the
world, without difficulty, at from Two to
three per cent. interest whilst our FEEDER
al Government finds great difficulty IN
borrowing small sums, al six per cent. and
the State Governments cannot borrow up
on evea 80 good terms es those. | will
now proceed TO point out what conceive
10 be the cause Of our present embarrass.
mrnt and difficulties, and in doing so
shall be very plain, ss am writing for
the whole community, and not for party.
In lookng into the past legislation OF
the Fedcral and most of the State Gov.
rrnmeu,s think | see much To have
produced ne present condition Of things.
About 1890, both the Federal and State
Govcrnm nts were clear of debt, or very
nearly SO. Oar own Virginia owed moth
ing of importance, the receipts into the
Treasury were abundant, more than snfi-
cicnt to meet the demands upon it. Thus
things continued until about 1888, when
the receipts into the Treasury were so
much mora ihan the demands upon ii,
that the Auditor md Treasurer then ac
tually advised a reduction Of the taxes.
About this time the Legislature entered
largely INTO the spiri, Of Internal In
provemcnts, which had been, as was
thought, fully tested by some Of our
sister Sta,-s, and promised mos, glorious
results. In 1882, the act incorporating
the present James River and kanawha
Company WAS passed, and several rail-
road companies were either incorporated
or surveys ordered about the same time.
The State took stock in most Of these
companies, and appropriations were made
ia aid Of the hesapeake and Ohio Canal,
besides many other minor works. In the
course OF few years, large sums Of
money had to be raised by the State
During the rage of the Internal Improve
ment fever, there were in the Legislature
TWO lHleTudi improvement PnltlSo, Nh0
much larger than the other. Both equal
~ DESTROYS Of improving the State
The larger portion of the party were
headed by gentlemen Of the first respec-
liability and talents in the State, g1ntle.
men who had devoted much Of their time TO
the investigation of the subject Of inter-
nal Improvement. They were always
ready to go for any internal improvement
scheme, aud they were ready TO borrow
money 10 any amount. They had salts
fed themselves and laborea to convince
athprs, (und unfortunately for the State,
succeeded too well in doing SOY that for
the State to borrow money for Internal I'm,
provemenis, was for Der 20 incur no risk, IS
the improvements would yield revenue
as they progressed, adequate to meet the
interest on the loan, and rs soon as com
peted, would yield income enough to pay
both principle and int erest. The smaller
portion Of the patty in,usted that the rev.
enue to be derived from the works IN on
unfinished condition, was TOO uncertain to
he relied upon TO meet the interest upon
the loans and that the fnxeS ought TO be