Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1850-08-24
From the Nen Origins Crtscsnt.
TehaantepeC Railroad.
rxrRA SESSION or THE LRa1sIAruss.

| fxrRA SESSION or THE LRslsIAruRs.
We res,lme the consideration Of this
subject with the intention Of keeping il
prominently III view Of our readers az one
OF the most important elenlents of the fu
ture growth and prosperity Of our city.
The treaty with Mexico taken in con
nection with the concession made by thai
government III favor Of Don Jose Gafay
forms complete title, sufficient to secure
the perfect safety Of any investment that
may be made by our citizens for the pur.
pose Of eflectilig d line Of communication
across the Istlmus. It must not be for.
gotten that with such communication
our distance from San Francisco will be
only three thousand eight hundred and
| fifty miles, while by Panama it is five
| thousand six hundred and seventy-five
miles. BY the former route, the distance
| from New York to San francisco Is only
five thousand two hundred and fifty miles;
by the latter, six thousand six hundred
and fifty miles. A simple inspection OF
these figures shows the enormous advatl-
tages we possess for securing trade
| which now passes by our very threshold,
to seek our more enterprising sister city of
the north. 1t is not, however, altogether
just to join in the prevalent reproaches
against our citizens for not having yet or
Eanlzed communication across Tehuan-
tepec Nothing was done With the Pana-
ma or Nicaragua route, Until the action of
our government had proved successful III
securing a right of way between the two
seas at those points. The right Of passage
across Tehuantepec had been conceded
years ago, by the Mexican government
az an e.tclnsice privilege to Mr.. Garay,
and it was, of course, idle tn expect that
American citizens would invest CAPITAL in
obtaining an assignment Of the concession.
br in undertaking to build road while
their property remained unprotected by the
strong arm of the General Government 4.
and especially, while the tickle admins
tration in Mexico was constantly seeking
pretext for annulIing the concession made
by Santa Anna to Garay
During the pendency of the negotiations
between Mr.. Letcher and Mr.. Lacnnza,
(the Mexican Minister for Foreign Affairs
the committee appointed by our citizens
at our great Tehuantepec meeting held
last summer have not beer idle, but as
we are informed have succeeded in effect
ing an arrangement with Mr.. Iargous.
the present owner of the concession,
whereby the control of this great enter
prise is secured to New Orleans. For
this purpose, however. it is necessary to
form joint stock company, and the I'M
fortunate state Of our imperfect legislation
OH the subject of corporations has arrested
any further progress till the next meeting
Of our Legislature. BY the Constitution
OF the State no special charter can be
granted to any company, and no law can
be passed except a law applicable to cor.
porations in general-~--oln Legislature has
passed such general law, but 1t is so clog
ged with forms and conditions that are ell
tirely inappllcabe to a company Of the
kind, required for so large an enterprise,
as to bd totally impracticebe--on of the
provisions of the law limits the capital of
any company formed under its provisions,
to $500 OO0-whereas, several millions
would be required for the Tehuantepec
Company.
1t seems to us that this fact alone would
authorize and indeed require the call of an
extra session of the Legislature by our
Governor It surely cannot be permitted
that this important measure shall langl,ish,
aud perhaps the control of this route wrest-
ed from our city, because of such defect
of our legislation as renders it impossible
to organize a company in New Orleans
Our enumeration of the advantages and
benefits that would accrue to our city and
state from such a measure, would lead to
such startling results as might make us
appear as visionares to those who have
not fully examined the subject and we
can conceive of nothing better worth the
trouble and expense of al extra session,
than the devising of such amendments to
our corporation law, as shall enable those
who are anxious and able to execute this
project to form an efficient and secure Or
gsnlzation for that purpose. Some of our
country cotefnpofarles are already loud III
the call for session next fall, in order to
establish some system for the protection of
the alluval lands Of the State against the
overflow of the river, This, again, is a
matter of vast Importance, and there are
others to wliclfwe may hereafter allude,
showing the necessity of obviating the
mistakes committed by the Legislature in
their last hurried session. The fiscal af-
fairs of the State, and the wretched condi-
ton Of our city finances, are prominent
topics requiring further consideration, on
which we also propose to comment at an
early day.