Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1853-03-09
SPEECH
MIR. sEGAR, OF ELIZABETH CITY,

SOUTH SIDE RAILROAD LOAN BILL.
Delivered in the House Of Delegates of Virginia,
January, 18th and 18Th, 1858.
cannot consent to strike from the bill its loan
feature 1t is the vital principle, not of this bill
only, but, 10 great extent, of our system of inter-
nal improvement.
We are entered, Mr.. Speaker, upon system {
puOHc workS-a noble system it is, despite It's
detects-which is destined, when consummated.
to bring prosperity and power TO the State and to
shed new glorleS upon her; and the only inquiry
now IN regard 10 1t is, not whether we shall COM
plete it, but how.
Sir, congratulate the friends of internal i'm
provement, that, after Il hard struggle of twenty
years, TO place in the ascendant that policy which
can alone develop the matchlesS resources OF the
Stale The question has at last come down to this,
not whether we shall complete Our public works,
but IN 1rhat mode shall we do it.
In my judgment, the best form in which we can
give aid to our internal Improvement companies,
IS to loan them our bonds to an extent sufficient
LOT the completion OF their respective works. The
plan IS the most certain, the speedeSt and cheap
est. Every possible consideration demands ilA
adoption. Our honor rs commonwealth our
pride as people, our financial condition, inter
est -aS taxpayers our relative position to the
States around us the pride of our past and the hope
OF our future, the monetary condition of the civ
lllzed world, the rising price OF labor and materi
ais, the high credit of the State, all demand that
we adopt, for the completion of our great lines OF
improvement, the energetic principle embodied i'll
this blll-a loan of State bonds
But before entering u formal vindicaton OF
the loan principle, propose to remove, if can,
some of the obstacles that stand in the way of n
fair consideration of the subject.
1t is said that the principle is a new one; that
1t IS unusual; departure from established policy;
an innovation upon il.
Sir, admit the plan 10 be unusual, and the an
Swer is at hand: thatifi be unusual, the crcum-
stances of State necessity that demand its appl-
cation, are likewise unusual.
We have an extensive system OF internal i'm
provement, repete with future blessings 10 the
State and glores to the Commonwealth, which,
under the existing plan of operations, is 'dragging
its slow length along,'' subject to constant stop
rageS delays and losses, and the question is.
whether we Shall proceed in this slow and expen-
SIve mode, or whether we Shall go on faster under
bctterisysem.
We have contracted debt of more than four
teen millions. involving an annual tax of million
and more, and the question comes up, whether the
people shall bear this tax for long PERIOD or n
short one.
Other States, above us and below us, are en-
ploying the most energetic measures 10 anticipate
us in the great connections of trade between the
east and the west and, by getting the commercial
start, to appropriate to themselves exclusively and
Ill perpetuty the benefits of this vast trade and
the question appealing at once to interest and
our pride is, whether shall sit with folded arms,
and yield up the rich prize without q struggle, or
whether we shall employ the most potent agency
within our reach 10 Offset the effort of our enter
prSing neighborS, and, by that agency, vndcate
our interests, our rights, our destiny Here, sure
~, are extraordinary circumstances, and extgaord.
nary considerations, calling for the enjoyment OF
some extraordinary fundamentally, the applica-
ton OF some unusual plan OF operations, 10 en-
compass the great ends before us.
II may be allowed to borrow an illustration
from the medical profession, | should say the pa
tient is very i'll, and requires strong nedicinrs-
Seldllitz powders and bread pills won't put him cn
his feet. The weak remedies ofthe joint stock SyS-
tenn wont answer-can't save him. With all de-
terence, think my friend from Petersburg (who
is the family physician in the case) fully conpre-
bends the condition of the patient, and has hit up
on the right preScnptOn-the strong remedy OF
State loans, i'll preference 10 the water cruel con-
Germ of joint subscriptions. And if the gen
tleman t;om Northampton, and the gentleman
from Mecklenhurg, will hold the patients nose
while my friend from -etrrsburg and some Others
of us get the dose down the PATIENTS throat my
life on it he will soon be on his feet again. and like
the healed cripple, so on his way rejoicing.
1t is maintained, in the second place, that the
loan principle is IN violation Of the spirit of the
Constitution for that the spirit of that inst. ument
IS evidently opposed to loans. A very plain tale
viii put this objection down. The Constitution
itself not only contemplates, but i'll express terms
recognises, the principle of State loans. Let the
Constitution speak for itself In the 2Sth section
OF the 4th article we read follows: 1.-THE liza
blllty to the State of any Incorporate ted company or
institution, TO redeem the principal and pay the III
tereSt OF any loan hertOfOre made, or Irhch man
hereafter be made by the State TO any such compa-
ny or institution, Shall not be released" Loans
are clearly allowed, though release from them is
forbidden. The prohibitions of the section are
directed, evidently, not against the making OF
loans, but against their relaSe.
Here, then, the loan principle is expressly rec
ognIsed. Hd Ter Scriptd est. And what is ey-
presSly recognised i'll the Constitution, surely can
not be regarded as III violation Of its shirt: for
hold that the letter ofthc Constitution is its strict
est spirt-the best and only true exponent of its
spirit
Nor can it lie properly said 10 be an evasion OF
That provision which requires per cent 10 be set
apart IRON the accrulng revenues 10 pay the inter
est, and form a sinking fund Tor our existing debt
No friend of internal Improvements in this Lall
cOntempateS, | am sure, any such evasion. In
truth, We have already discharged constitution.
al dutyi this regard. We have passed the sink
ing fund bill, which requires per cent TO he set
apart, not only on the debt existing on the LIST day
CT January, 1852, anu at the time of the passage
OF the BILL but, in Stict conformity to the ConSt.-
tutlon on all debts hereafter to be c0ntracteH r. e
law is prospective well as retrospective in lis
provisions, ard furnishes conclusive reply to the
constitutional objection taken, on this head 10 the
principle of loans.
These preliminary objections TO the principle be-
ing disposed OF, proceed to the consideration of
its merits
Sir, am i'll favor of making the loan of State bonds
because regard the question between the adoption
or rejection OF the measure, as question between
Improvement and no improvement. If [ state the
proposition too strongly in this form, certainly do
not when l say, that It'll aquestion between Slow
and most expensive progress of our public works.
and rapid and economical completion of them.
My own decided conviction is, that the oueStion
between loan of our bonds, on the one hand. and
the old plan of two and three ffths subscription,
on the other, is question of improvement or no
Improvement, of the completion of our public
works. or their total abandonment
Sir, II we rely upon private subscriptions we
lean, in my judgment, on broken staff. We can't
raise the private capital for the best of all reasons
that it has no existence among us. And if gentle.
men " i'll look at the structure of our community,
the truth of the proposition will be most apparent
For the very want of this stimulating policy of
internal improvement, we have none of that d.
vision OF pursuit which, all owe: the world, is the
CHIEF source OF accumulated wealth, and conse-