Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1843-12-14

me Richmond dock to their chartered
UNITS, and have so improved this, as to
ct II TO become a useful appendage. not
lohiv sos4he commerce oil the city, but to
tie final profits of the canal,
( In these various operations and ex-
/ pentiifures, and perhaps others connec
/ ted with them, the capital stock of the
company has been fully expended. aud
there has also been expended, nearly, it
Y not altogether, the additional sum oi one
million six htndred and fifty thousand
dollars, Of which one million four hun
dred thousand were borrowed by the
company under guarantee OF the State,
aad two hundred and fifty thousand d.
reety advanced by the State as loan
Looking at these expenditures, aud then
at results, it IS proper to reco'lec., that
one million of the five consisted of works
which have availed but little for actual
beneilt-that the annuity of twenty. one
thousand dollars, charged upon the COM
pany was equivalent to the abstraction
from its capital of three hundred and
fifty thousand, that sum being necessary
to produce it at six per cent. interest
that hundred thousand dollars, or more.
have been lost by delinquent gubscri-
bers, and that the work has begun. and
has been prosecuted under a marketable
rate for labor. for professional wages.
and for every description of material so
extravagant beyond all former example
as to have added. in all probability.
half million Of dollars extra. to its cost.
| When these items are combined, what
ever is the light in which the operations
and expenditure of the company are still
considered, it must yet be admitted that
they have been conducted under burdens
and at disadvantages, which have lost to
| it many mile Of additional improve
nent.
Leaving these views, however, it is
matter of deeper interest to the public to
know whether the company is in any
present condition to go on with its work,
and if it is not, in what way and to what
extent it will be aided by the General
Assembly? That the company is in no
present condition to go forward with its
undertaking, is painfully apparent With
its capital exhausted, with 6 per cent.
debt upon more than million and
half Of dollars, and with no productive
means but its tolls and water rents to
rely upon. it is evident that whatever
It's receipts from these sources may a
mount to, they cannot be sufficient, after
providing for current expenditures, to
make any considerable impression upon
the great work which is still to be done.
Thus situated. the Company has no in
ternal power Of rep!enishing its funds
except by augmenting its capital, as pro-
vlded for in its charter, or by borrowing.
The first of thes expedients it has never
I-yet tried, and could not try, even sue
cessfullv, (which is extremely doubfuI,)
but at the positive disadvantage Of much
and injurious delay. The other one also
it has never tried upon lis own response
bility, nor otherwise tried than when
the credit Of the State was employed to
support and guarantee that of the COM
pany; and even in these cases, the con-
Joined credit of both has not been sufii
cient, at all times, to protect the loans
negotiated upon it from ri gorous and hu
initiating terms which have meyer been
demanded of the States itself, and which
no regular course of business operations
could continue to afford. 1t would thus
appear. that the credit Of the company
separately from that of the State, won d
not be sufficient for a profitable loan, if
sufficient for any, whilst that OF the
State. separate from the Company, IS
better than when associated with it. The
union, therefore. which is indispensable
/ to the Company, is a clear loss to the
Commonwealth. and resultlngy a loss
to both. Its the same to the State, or
point of obligation. whether money Is
raised upon one of her own bonds, or
upon one of the Company's bonds, which
she guarantees to pay; but, as her own
is in better credit in the market, and
will bring the most, it would be any
thing but wise to use the other, which,
: costing the same. woald produce less,
In this situation Of things, so critical and
embarrassing to the Company, what viii
I the Legislature do for its relief? Or
: to speak more comprehenslvely and just
: ly, what will it do for the relief Of tina
bread and productive interior, which de
ponds upon this work? The hegisla
, ture, in deciding upon this question, vii
at once perceive that, besides the con
siderations of policy, upon which this
work was begun, and which urge to il:
prosecution as powerfully as ever, there
are other considerations arising out o
the operations Of the Company which
make the further prosecution of it. t.
; some extent at least, and that by aid q
: the State, an act OF the clearest economy
: and duty. If this work should be stopped
, in its present condition, and no inmedi
ate aud vigorous measures be taken t.
r preserve from utter ruin the expensive
: and unfinished section through the Blue
Ridge. combination OF disastrous eff
fects must inevitably follow. The whole
; seven hundred and forty Or fifty thou.
sand dollars. which. from first to last
by the State or the Company, has al
ready been expended upon this section,
will be lost;-the whole Of that trade