Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1855-01-27

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same rates as they were charged other iron:
but rails remained duty free until March 3 1913.
tSpe l.. ). Law, vol. D.. p. 55l
g. Daring the whole eleven yrar- in which rail.
road irsn was duty free, IN ever, where a
cnmpany was unable 10 LAY down IL ron within
three wears from The date 81 its importation. an
unnIicaiion to congress obtained special relief \
reference to the journal Of the House in three
several eases. show, that they were passed nenl
con. and without even eall for the Yeas nays
pr sumo the rest wcrt. passed the same way: all
parties and all sections oi the country ncquieSci
in the policy. ! notice that several of these spe-
cal acts were for the benefit If Penn> VIA ANA
Railroads.
From the Treasury table before me ! am able
to trace 4O- .9l9 20 and see for whose bene-
fit the duties were refunded, but the balance
cannot trace; from this tab.e, it seems, that of
the 81 .IOS 9l9 % Pennsy iyania, New York and
New England, obtained sonr tuo millions and
three quarters, and of this latter sum p,un-xaa.
MIA Obtained 81 .0iI,S752 81 Virginia Sld6,G22 %.
Sulih Carolina S2l G,:}}l 81. Geor,a ! - $50 So
How tie balance of the near seven millions of
dollar, refunded from the Treasury of the mi
ted States was distributed among the several
States do not know; it Is fair to suppose that it
was divided rs was the foar millions and if So,
it went principally to Pennsy lvanio, New York
and New England and helps to account for their
numerous road, and large wealth.
A. BY the Tariff act of 1912 t.ee L. : Stnt-
utes at Large, vol. D. p. DOL specific duty Of
80 per ton was laid upon Railroad iron; but
this not to take effect until the 3D. of Mnrch
of the following year.
5. In lS46 by the act of Both Of July, a Dem
ocratic Congress reduced the duties of S25 per
ton upon Railroad iron to 30 per cent upon its
actual cost.
From this history of the legislation Of Congress
upon railroad iron, that for the first elev-
pn years it was exempted from all duties, if laid
dawn wit finn, Il 20 4
poration If laid down afterwards, special acts
refunded from the Treasury the sums paid there
for. Daring the succeeding nr years, from
1912 to 1916 specific duty at 80 per ton was
imposed, and during the succeeding nine year,
from i546 to $500 there has Leon collected "a
duty OF 30 per cent. upoa the co-t of imported
railroad ironaeeyen years free from duty, thir-
teen years subject to duty.
1t will readily occur 10 the int lligeut reader
that Il = principle involved IN making railroad i.
ron duty free, and Of refundng duties years after
they had been paid, has been sanctioned by all
parties, and been quietly acqniesced in. If not
directly approved. by the greatest and the best
men Of the country in public life, during one of
the most brilliant periods in American history
from 1881 to sl3.
The general act of 1882, and the numerous
special acts, were passed during the Presiden-
cics of ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN buren,
aud JOIN TYLER. In Congress were the follow
have noticed, acq seed in, and most, if not all,
of whom directly sanctioned the principle of
making railroad iron duty free. Mes,rs. Cal.
houn, Clay. Woodbury.. Webster. Buchanan, X.
j. Walker, Marcy, Bel of Tennessee, Clayton,
Boyd, McDufie, Polk, Livingston, Sas Wright,
Tuzewell, w. K. King, Abbot Lawrence. Berrrn.
Crittendcn, NhittleSey, Cave Johnson, Govern
or lroup of Georgia SEWER, Governor Dickinson
of New Jersey, b. W. Leigh, Hugh l.. White.
/ Caleb Gushing, General llaync of South Carroll
ma, John Quincy Adams. 2. L. Barbour, Wayne,
&c, &c.
Mt one of these great men, of the various par
ties in Congress, seemed to have seriously as sail
| ed the plan of encouraging the construction of
railroads 10y the rails duty free. General JACK
soH aud his successors directly approved the laws,
general and special; and the rreasur>'s re-
turns show that 81 all the States, Pennsylvania
and New York obtained from the Treasury. un-
/ der those laws. by far the most money. I'nder
the working OF those law making iron rails duty
free, many, fno most Of the leading Railroads
OF Penn, yIralia, New York. New England, were
constructed in whole OF in part, To aid in build
ing those great railroad, that have done so
much towards making Baltimore, Philadelphia,
! New York and Boston what they are, iron for
/ r0iir0ud purposes made duty free during
an unbroken period Of eieren gears. And yet,
at that very time, and during the whole eleven
years specific duty of thru dollars per ton was
levied upon iron used for all other than railraod
! purposes in every part of the niied States.
! A. torcibly showing how far Congress ac-
! tually went to encourage the building of riroads
in the State, wealthy enough in those davs to CON
Struct them mention that the duty paid into
the Treasury on iron laid down on what is now II
portion Of the great railroad connecting New
York and Boston, was refunded from the Treas
ury of then |. = by special act Of Congress, (and
/ apparently rithout opposition from any gudrter,)
some fire gears after the importation Of the iron
: n q
/ New England, New York and lcnnsy lvania have
most population and manufactures, commerce and
wealth, when see that they took advantage OF
hat liberal gi>aton of Congress- and built, at
early day, that kind of modern avenues, and
! many of them, which enrich all communities who
able to construct them Their brilliant sue
cess has caused extensive mi: lton.a with like
success. And hope to the day when raj
roads will reach alike the Rio Grande, at its hend
waters and the Red River of the North,in latitude
l9deg-when they will extend to the Bay OF san
Francisco. to the mouth of the Columbia. and to
pugets Sound in far off Washington Terrific
ry.
The foregoing ha>ty historical account of Con
gIcssonaI legislation in aid of railroad commune
cations, will, | hope, furnish an ins ght into the
reas, n Il at cause the Southern and Western
States to hope that they will be allowed privilege
eSthe enjoyment of which has had so much to do
with tie prosperity that we now have the happi-
ness to witness in the Northern and Middle States;
il explains somewhat the instructions of Virginia
and other States. and shows why they directed
Senators to vote to make Railroad iron duty free.
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Arrivals at the Wellington House
UP to 3 o'clock yeSterday.)
VI ID,