Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1854-01-24
GOVERNORS MESSAGE.
Executive DEPARTMENT,
Nashville. Jan. -, 1854.
H..,,se al Renresentafires:

!
have been responded to before this period, lad II
not been for indisposiion, which has confined me
considerable portion Of the time to my room ana
bed
A norton Of the information asked for in your
resolution can be found by reference to the ioCi
and Both pages OF the Comptroller repoit' ~
was made to the Legislature some tune IN ethe
month of October, 1858. The main object Oh youf
resolution is presume, to ascertain the amount OF
bonds that have been issued to the East tennessee
and Georgia Railroad Company since my connec-
t;on with the Executive Department. The amount
of State Bonds issued to said company Is one
hundred and thirty thousand dollars, which the re-
cords of the Department will show to all persons
who may think proper to examine them.
These bonds were issued to the East Tennessee
and Georgia Railroad Company, under the l0th
and 18th sections of act passed on the lth day
of February, 1852, entitled, san act TO establish
system of Internal improvements IN TINS Sta'e.
Soon after my installation Executive, MI camp
bell Wallace the President of said company, made
annlcatian for the issuance of bonds under the
10th and l5lh sections of the act hereinbeiore re-
cited The Executive took up the statute ana the
annlcation for the bonds, and gave them careiui
and critical examination, bringing to his aid those
rules for the construction OF statutes known 10 Tue
legal proe sion, and alter deliberate cohSidera'Un
came to the conclusion that the company was iegay
entitled TO one hundred and Thirty thousand dollars
in bonds it being the amount of dett incurred f,r
the necessary iron, rails, spike, equipments, &c,
bv said company, bona fide and before the passage
| of the before rect I'd act.
The Executive had been informed that applca-
ton had been made to his predecessor, by SAID Com
nsnv for the issuance OF bonds, and that the ap-
| prlication had been by him refused He was also
| informed that the opinion OF various gentlemen OF
HIGH legal attainments had been given in. favor OF
| the issuance of said bonds. Examination has been
made with the aid of the Secretary OF State, Tor
these opinions but they cannot be found IN any OF
the files in the Executive Department, nor can there
| be any evidence found in the Executive books or
register that the said Company ever did apply Tor
the bonds referred to- These facts being understood
| caused the Executive to be exceedingly careful III
all the steps he was about to take IN reference TO
said application for the issuance OF bonds lie,
| therefore, called upon the Attorney General, VINO
is, by the act of 1885, made the adviser OF the Exc
! cutive in all legal questions, and required when
called upon TO give his opinion in regard to the man
ner in which the law shall be executed. The opn-
ion Of the Attorney General as required was gwen,
a copy of which is herewith transmitted and made
a part of this message. The opinion of the Attor-
ney General is methodical clear, concise and CO.
| gent being entirely consQnant with the opinion oil
the Executive, and is by him endorsed and adopted
as the correct Interpretation of the 10th and 10Th
sections Of the act hereinbefore reclted.
In addition to this your attention smost respect
fully directed to some very important facts connec
ted with this subject. In the first place you are re-
ferred to the llth section of "An act to charter
Owen and Winstead Turnpike Company, passed
the Both of January, 1850, portion of which IS
as follows "That so much of the act of the 4th OF
| February, l84S, as requires the Governor OF the
State to endorse and guarantee the bonds of the
East Tennessee and Georgia Railroad Company, to
the amount of three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars be- and the same is hereby repealed, and IN
tead of said endorsement and guarantee, and for
the purpose Of aiding IN the completion oil the East
Tennessee and Georgia Railroad, 1t shall be the du-
ty of the Governor of the State, and he is hereby
required whenever he is satisfied that said Railroad
Company has so far progressed IN the construction
of said road as to make it prudent and proper to
procure the iron rails and equipments for compile
tina the same in sections of forty miles or more
Then and in that case he is hereby authorized and
t required to issue Coupon Bonds OF the State, for
an amount sufficient to pay for the iron, rails and
eoupments to be placed on the sections which have
been 50 far progressed with "
i And in ike manner, whenever additional sections
of not less than twenty miles IN extent shall like
wise be so far progressed with as TO make 1t pru-
, dent and proper, to procure and pay for the iron
rails and equipments for completing the same it shal
be the duty of the Governor to issue the bonds o.
the State for sufficient amount to finish such ad-
ditional section until the aChoe line of road from
Dalton TO the Tennessee river has been completed
der the same rules and upon the same conditions as
provided for to enable said Company TO complete The
FIRST section" provided, however, that the whole
| amount of bonds which the Governor Of the State
j is authorize to issue to said Company, shall not
exceed the sum of three hundred and fifty thousand
dollars the amount of SAID endorsement and guar
antee as aforesaid for the completion Of said rodo
from Dalton to the Tennessee rjrer.
, 1t will be very readily perceived from this act
that the General Assembly set out with the prn
cpe that the State was to issue bonds sufficient II
amount to pay for the iron, rails and equipments
| To be placed on the East Tennessee and Georgia
Railroad from Dalton to the Tennessee river anC
that the three hundred and fifty thousand dollars
was considered at the time sufficient in amount fo
that purpose hence the provso restricting the Gov
ernOr in the issuance of the bonds to the three
hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Under the
e ! 18th section the Governor was authorized to ap
point faithful agent whose duty twas to take con
troll of the bonds of the State TO that the
n same was applied to the payment of the railroad
!, iron and equipments, including engines and cars fol
the Railroad Company above named. Dr. J. G
NJ. RAMSEY, Of Knoxville, was appointed agent by
| the Governor who took charge Of the bonds anC
8 disposed of them thelaw directed and they were
Il not sufficient in amount to purchase the iron rails
chairs, spikes equipments, &c.. and he reported thai
fact to the Legislature of 1872, which report ear
t be found IN the appendix, page DOL to the House
| Journal of 1872. In that report, DR.. RAMSEY
4 makes the following statement:
at was ascerained that the State loan itself was
insufficient in amount to purchase the iron and
8 equipments necessary to put the road in successful
) operation from Dalton, Georgia to the Tennessee
river as the act under which Ireceived my appoint
ment elilenay contemplated And it was con-
sdered essential to the interest Of the States and
other stockholders, well as to the business and
commerce of the country, that the road should at
, once tap that stream, and thus extend its benefits
through il simultaneously to the whole ofEast Ten
nessee Unwilling that the road should STOP even
for time short of that point the Board Of Drec-
tors wisely determined to issue bonds and stock of
the company 10 be ,lssd IL conjunction aciH the State
fund IN making the purchases necessary TO finish and
equip the road to Bars Ferry
From this report it will be seen that the amount
of bonds issued by the State were insufficient to
procure the iron, chairs, equipments &c as con-
tempated in the llth section Of the act already re-
ferred to. The Legislature of 1872, with these
acts before them, passed the general Internal I'm
) provement law, containing the 10th and 18th sec
tons already recited The 18th section provides
that should any of the companies hercinbeore
enumerated, have bonatide, and before the
passage of this act purchased or otherwise
contracted for, upon their own credit, the
necessary iron rails, spikes, equipments, &c,
for their road or roads, any section or