Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1857-05-30


into law.
This bill. sir, to say the least, bears upon
the face of it o palpable and deliberate
fraud. No measure has ever been intro
duoed in these halls, or those Of any Re-
publican Government, that will have so
great tendency to weaken the confidence
Of the people in the integrity Of their repre-
sentatives. One section provides that if
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company pur-
chases the NJ ain Line that all their property,
real and personal, shall be forever exempt
and free from any State tax, aud that their
charter shall be perpetual. Sir, it is we'll
known that the revenue derived from the
tonnage tax alone now imposed upon the
Pennsylvania Railroad amounts annually
to the sum Of 1925, 900, and which if mul'
tiplied by thirty three, (the number of years
given that company to paw for the Main
Line,) would amount in the aggregate to
the sum of 81 ,425,O00. Then, aside from
this tonnage tax, must be taken into con-
sideration other taxes which would annu.
ally amount to some $4,000 or 800, 900
and all of which under the present bill
they would be exempt from paying. In
these figures / make no estimate Of the
natural and inevitable average increase Of
taxes, which would loom up to a pretty
snug sum- A single glance at the provi-
sions OF this bill will not only tell you that
it is preposterous but that it is rascally and
and wicked in the extreme. How any
legislator can muster sufficient daring to
vote for a bill so abominable in all its
features, and then brave the unavoidable
Indignation of an enlightened and houest
constituency is more than can be OWNED.
Sir, the people have been hattered and
cajolcd by this corporation, and now it is
about to rob them. A few spectators
have, by dint of impudent villainy, managed
to divert the attention of the honest IN asses
from their real interests by the hue and
cry Of stop thief" Session after session
is worse than wasted in iegislating against
labor, and in favor of capital, for the ex-
elusive benefit of few rich men. Instead
of being as We should the inAezible guar
dans of equal rights, and dispensing like
the dews of heaven their favors upon all,
we devote ourselves entirely too much to
the building Up of privileged orders, and
creating artificial distinctions in society,
cxa'ting few and debasing the many /;
making a small number enormously rich,
and reducing the mass to pcnury and deg-
radiation,
Mr.. Speaker. now call on my friends,
the Senator's from Jerks, schuylkill and
Philadelphia, to ccmc to the rescue, and
implore them by all that is holy not to vote
for another section of this bill feel
confident that their constituents are opposed
to rearing in their midst ponderous mo.
nopoly-onc that will be constantly grasp
. iuc after legislation that must prove detri-
E mental to the varied interests of business
mon.
Sir, it has always been the boast Of
Republicans that opposition to establishing
privileged cl'ss was one of their cardinal
, principles yes, sir, mean Republicans
, in the true sense of the word. At this time
should like to know what is to be expected
from prqtcsSed Republicans, Simply no.
thing.
came here, sir, without any prejudices
, for or against the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company, l knew but little of the power
, or influence it welded in these halls until
mouth or more ago, when one of its bills
relative to its being exempted from paying
tax on large amount of property in and
, about p;ttsburg, was under consideration,
. The venerable Senator from Allegheny,
(Mr. Wilkins,) together with his colleague,
, (Dr. Gazzam) protested strongly against
its passage, upon the ground that it was
wrong and unjust for any corporation to
be released from paying fair and equita-
| bic tax; but, sir, when the quesi n was
, E irly before the Senate, then for the first
) time fancied that coula plainly see the
, company's solicitor, one of its generals,
r and a captain stationed in different parts
I Of this chamber with view of obtaining
q the ear of their respective party friends -
5 By this system oil tactics, the Senators from
@ Allegheny were soon overpowered, and the
8 company got all the Legislation asked for.
/ Now, sir, l am free to acknowledge that
@ from that time up to the present hour |
t have been alarmed In all candor, why
G should we not be? 1t is evident to any
{ close observer of events that il is foregone
Y conclusion that this mammoth company is
t rule or ruin.-that is, either by coercion or
J.. corruption.
+. The interests of my immediate consti-
G tuonts will be injured to a great extent
4 from the fact that the Eastern Division oil
the Pennsylvania Canal is to be included
o in the sale. 1t is evident that a majority
d of the coal operators in Luzerne county
d who ship coal to an eastern market, will
# be forced to pay about twenty five cents
Il per ton additional toll for all time to come
+ and, sir, that will nearly, if not quite
II amount to prohibition OF our coal trade
l. in that section of the State, Sir the Cana
: Board, so far as the interests of the Com
1t monwealth would permit wisely discrimi
/. mated in favor of tho coal trade coming
n from the Wyoming valley, They arranged
- their toll sheet 50 that all coal passin:
a down tho canal one hundred miles, shoul'
.e then pass free through to Columbia. 1t
10 about one hundred and six miles from ou