The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-02-20

meet this question on its merits. He
saw no reason why II should not be so
legal notice had been given, but he
maintained thar no notice at all was
required There wSs no necessity for
such notice The Railroad asked for
no pecniarsprivilege The object was
merely TO settle up the difficulties be-
tween the Company and the State. Il is
an arrangement and settlement of back
taxes, and providing for future taxa
ton in certain way. He could not see
any reason why the Senate should not
go on TO consider this bill. He under
stood the committee decided that no no.
tice was necessary.
Mr.. Young favored the substitute.
1t was relieved of the difficulty suggest
by the Senator from Harrison. The
Railroad would accept It. II Is better
than the original bill. 1t meets the OBJ
jections raised by the papers, that the
original bill was for all time TO come,
while the substitute runs only i've
years. Besides il gives the State more
than the original bill.
Mr.. Wilson-Was this bill got up at
the instance of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad Company?
Mr.. Young-Yes, sir.
Mr.. Wilsou-Just so.
Mr.. Carskadon.said Mr.. President,
I feel that the Senate does not intend
20 pass either the original bill
or the substitute, and therefore move,
stitute be Indefinitely postponed. [Sen-
sation.l
Mr.. Young said he thought it would
| be very unwise 10 indefinitely post
| pone. II we do, we will probably get
nothing at all from the railroad. He
| understood the stockholders in that
road were paying tax on their stock.
/ Can We tax both their bonds and the
real estate? That would be a double
tax. This 1 consider a strong argu-
ment in favor of the passage of that
bill. II we indefinitely postpone, in
my judgment we will get nothing. By
I this substitute we get over 81, COO,
and s25, 900 annually for i've years,
making about Sl65,OOO- If we reject the
bill, we will, as State, incur the dis
pleasure of the Company, and they will
double their charges on us, for they
never charged US one-half as much as
they could under their charter. We
ought not to Iegislate against the Com
pany. The people along the railroad
will feel this, but we, in my part of the
State, will not be effected by it. Let
US receive what the Company offers
US, for the best lawyers in the State
/ think we cannot tax them, as the oppo-
nents of the bill claimed.
Mr.. Chapline said that he thought it
vas remarkable course to undertake
to postpone Indefinitely without any
thing being said against the bill. Cen
tlemen ought TO show some reasons
why the bill should not pass. In the
last two weeks great deal has been
said upon this bill, and a great many
petitions have been signed and sent 70
the Senate. He would venture the as
sertion that most of the signers did not
know what they were signing. He be-
lieved that he could get great number
.NsNF tr Gin CO.
Boreman to resign his Office by stating
what was not true, or concealing facts,
when in fact if they knew the truth
they would desire him to remain in
office. Sir, it is no trouble to get petit
TONERS to almost anything. Not one in
ten read the petitions. The investiga-
ton of this bill brings up disagreeable
things. 1t has been said in argument
against the bill that we owe old Virgin
ia q great deal of money-for instance
some say that we will owe Virginia so,
0OO, 900, and that we will have TO pay it.
Is there one Senator who is ready to
vote to pay old Virginia one cent? We
are to pay our equitable portion, but
sir, we don't owe them one cent. Oul
best finaucters say we-will get $40, 0OO,,
600 from her if we get justice
yet such are the arguments
against this bill. Why, such an
argument is damaging to the State. II
from the North will not come here to
pay our debts. But, sir, such an argu-
ment is nonsense. My constituents
would not send me or any other man
back here, who would vote to pay Vir-
GINA one cent. 1t is also said the Com
pany owes the State 100000. Where
do gentlemen get their figures? Upon
what basis? That is a very large
amount of money The Auditor, how
ever, shows that the Company owes us
/ oh
100000, when your official records
show you are only entitled to S2s, 600
l Their charter shows the tax was to be
general tax, imposed by .he State,
: and not by counties, townships or road
districts. There can be no local tax.
We are bound by that charter, no mat.
ter what our constitution says. We
had better take the offer made in the
substitute. He was opposed to PAM
pering lawyers with big fees out of the
State treasury. If we lose the case in
the courts, the cost to the State will be
immense. This would be taking the
honest earnings of the poor man to put
in the pockets of the lawyers. The
: bill Is not popular with leading law
yers. They want to go to the Supreme
Court with everything. Ifyou go there,
it will probably be ten years before a
! single case will be decided, and that
will not be allowed TO be a test case
There will be suit after suit.
There has been a great deal of talk
about this terrible monopoly, the Balti-
more and Ohio Railroad Company.
Why, sir, that road has made West
Virginia. Without it what would your
lands be worthf Instead of an average
of five or six dollars per acre, they
would be worth forty or fifty cents an
acre MOnopolies have some rights
The railroad is carrying goods at hall
! what IL has the right to charge. This Is
) more than can be said of merchants OF
} firms. They put on the last cent
Berkeley and Jefferson counties send
more produce over the road than all the
; other counties through which it passes.
The canal cannot be reached at many
points, and hence the railroad is the
J great thoroughtare. 1t costs us only
] from Is to 20 cents per bushel to send
has the right to charge forty cents. We
! get our coal from Piedmont, and if your
! legislation has the effect to increase the
freight upon us, we will be great suf-
ferers. / tell you it will make great
difference to us.
am aware that petition has been
} sent up here from Berkeley county
against the passage OF this bilf. It was
signed by only a few persons-strangers
who lately came to Martinsburg, who
don't own a cents worth OF property
there. When was home, saw the
old, substantial citizens,-they want n
fair compromise. The Legislature has
great difficulty. Must we send it to the
courts to settle for us, as though we had
not sense enough to do it ourselves
This would not look like statesmen or
Senators. Let the Senate attend to its
own business, and settle its own diff
culties.
A great deal has been said about the
high charges of the rai1rnaH