The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-10-02

| gina anu ltHlltSSCt, t''hlhsiuSt uhN AVA
folk and Petersburg railroads. The meet
ing was very thinly attended, not more
than fifty persons being present.
On motion of Mr.D. /. Burr, Mr.. X. L.
Daniel was chosen chairman. He spoke Of
the oppressive determinations in railroads
against this city, and said he had heard of
some remedy proposed by way Of consoll-
daton. He prolcssed TO know nothing OF
the matter. He came to be instructed,
not to teach.
On motion of Mr.. Apperson, the editors
of newspapers present were requested to
act as secretaries of the meeting.
The following series of resolutions were
offered by Colonel Thomas p. August:
| Whereas consolidation of the Southside
| and Petersburg and Norfolk railroads with
| the Virginia and Tennessee railroad Is now be-
! ing agita;ed, and will probably be proposed at
| the next meeting of the stockholders OF the
| Virginia and Tennessee Railroad Company on
| the lcth proXimo: and whereas the friends OF
| this scheme of consolidation are seeking 10 IN
| tIuence the Board of Public Works in its favor
by IN effort TO bring public opinion to bear
! upon that Board in such manner as TO induce
| il to appoint proxies to represent the State IN
| said meeting favorable TO consolidation ana
| whereas the pcopl" OF Richmond are deeply
| in sted in the question. and nave been
| called upon To assemble and give expression TO
| their opinion
| Now, therefore, we, the people Of Richmond,
| in public meeting assembled, aiter mature
| considerations are decidedly of opinion that
such scheme of consolidation viii be injurious
to IN iucalculabe extent 10 the state OF tir.
ginia as the owner of SG,o630'S OF the capital
stock of the Virginia and Tennessee railroad,
Orange and Alexandria railroad, Virginia
Central railroad, Richmond and Danville rail
road. and of $40, +no, ,0G0 in the James River
and kanawha Canal Company-making an
aggregate OF SIG, ,463, ,Uas-all OF which Will, to
a certain extent, be sacrificed in order 10 adj.
vance the interests of the Sout1lside and Nor
folk and Petersburg railroads, in which the
state owns stock 10 the amount OF ~ S3,1n,
being less by Sl3. go, ,.9> than her stock i'll the
threatened works; and We are further con-
WINGED that said schemes, II carried out, must
necessarily be seriously detrimental 10 the
large interests Of Iynchburg, Alexandria, and
Richmond, both rs stockholders in the enulne-
rated threatened improvements and rs manu-
featuring and commercial centres OF large ca
pital and enterprise, as compared win
Norfolk and Petersburg, which il is supposed
(but we think eironcouslyl Will be benefited
hy the scheme.
l. E,S,Irtd, That the business men of Rich
moud here assembled do solemnly protest
against the proposed consolidation.
>. EesoIrtd, That we appeal to the Board OF
Public Works, a the representatives of the
whole State, to withhold its influence from
scheme fraught with such disastrous conse-
qurnces, as we believe, to the State III large
and especially TO The cltlcs ol hlcnnlohu,
| Iynchburg, and Alexandria.
| ! R.soired, That in our opinion the only Of
| fetal body in thpStatc that can rightfully con-
! slider ard decide upon this important questio
| is the General Assembly OF Virginia; and ILL.,
| asmuch rs that branch OF the government NJ
! its last session declined TO lpgislate upon the
subject, We think the attempt by the means
| now proposed to forestall its action At the APP
! proaching session should be decidedly opposed
/ hy all who desire the voice OF the entire state
| 10 be heard in regard to II.
| J. ResoIrtd, That discrimination by freight
| tariffs or by special contracts over any
Of the routes of internal improvement Ill
! Virginia by which the trade passing to and
| fro from any ports outside of the State has any
| advantage over the trade TO or from any of the
ports and markets within the State i'll in
| creased facilities or lighter charges, or In any
other way, is directly against the interests OF
| the Statc-a violation of good faith toward
| those who created these improvements and
paw the interes: on the State debt contracted
| 10 build them, and an unwise administration
of the affairs of the several pubic works.
Colonel August supported the rcsolu-
tions in a few remarks, made more, he said
to give their opponents an opportunity OF
opposing them than that they needed any
supporting speech. He alluded to the
message of the Governor relative TO the
consolidation, and said he believed that
the Constitution laid its hand upon the
scheme. As far as the city Of Richmond
was concerned, having it's connections by
the James River and kanawha' canal and
Richmond and Danville railroad, it could
gain nothing by the consolidation. The
| Virginia and Tennessee railroad was will
ing to pro rate, as the term goes, with the
canal or the railroads connecting
with il. What, then, was the interest
of Richmond. 1t was clear that, if the
consolidation was made, Richmond could
not be benefited by it. By an ar
rangement entered into on February 26th
q consolidation has already been effected
between the East Tennessee, East Ten
nessee and Virginia, Virginia and Tcnnes-
see, SOuthside, and Norfolk and Peters
burg railroads. How, then, can further
consolidation be agreed upon by citizens of
Richmond, when the trade coming over
what is now an independent road shall be
made dependent upon a consolidation
which shall carry all of it to foreign ports.
General Malone, president of the Nor
folk and Petersburg and Southside rail-
roads, who was called upon by j. ii. Gil
mer, ESQ, rose to reply to Colonel August.
He said the scheme did not mean neutral
ity-not such neutrality as was extended
to us during our late but glorious struggle.
fApplause.l 1t made no discrimination
between any cities. lie went on at some
| length TO advocate the consolidation chief
Iv on the ground that it was the best means
to reach the great Mississippi valley: The
general argument used by General Malone
was that the best way and almost the only
way of reaching this trade was by the con-
soIdation. The matter, he said, was to be
discussed before the Board Of Public Works
tomorrow (Tuesday), and to this discus.
sion the friends of the consolidation had
been invited.
General Imboden thought there. was
nothing in the proposition OF consolidation
to commend it to the citizens Of Rich
mond. 1t was q new idea, and had been
very little thought Of. One Of the railroad
tariffs showed that II was made with refer
ence to steamship line TO New York.
EVERYTHING il to 20 straight out Of Virginia,
whether ii comes from the Mississippi val
ley or the State of Virginia or soywhere
else where this line can command the trade.
The only works to be benefited by c0nsOlida-
tion are those over which General Malone
tpresides. The question was TO be considered
Iby Richmond, not ss . locality, but as 8
ttsx-psying community. He understood
| that the Auditer's books showed that Rich.
nond paid nc-fourth Of the taxes Of the
1 whole State. Tho combination which has
been recently formed for line 10 New
4 York has alrIsdy shown bad resAlis Tor
Msnnona. ~ lsysl ~ snVa!ss, - ~