The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-02-24


he Norfolk and Great Western railroad |
shall deposit with the said Treasurer its |
bonds equal to the amount Of dollar for dol
lar, according to the face value SO deposited
by the Richmond and Washington Rail-
road Company, which shall be the first lien
on the said railroad, constructed Us afore-
said through the counties aforesaid, and
the bonds of the Norfolk and Great West
ern railroad so deposited shall become
the property of, and be delivered to, the
Richmond and Washington Railroad Com
pany as fast and in proportion as the bonds
of the latter are used and applied, as here
inbefore provided"
DISPOSED TO GIVE 1T A HEARING.
This was the proposition as presented.
and | could not, without unfaithfulness to
my constituents, reject it without n hear
ing. 1t looked like business to my mind.
1t looked like something in earnest, and ]
could not have been true to my people,
land-iocked as they are, and dependent
upon foreign capital as they are, if I had
not considered it. therefore, to the aston
ishment of those with whom l had been
acting. moved to adjourn, and the motion
was carried. The proposition had been
made to me by
A PAID ATTORNEY OF THE COMPANY,
but it is now forgotten, and the form and
substance thereof is changed. There is this
material difference between them:
ONE REQUIRES A DEPOSIT AND SUBSTANTIAL
GUARANTY, AND TIE OTHER DOES NOT.
They propose to endorse for US. How
do we know that they can endorse for the
Pennsy lyania Central Company? 1t be-
comes us to inquire whether they can make
good their pI Iomises. In the first place,
they have five years in which to comply
with the proposition, and in the meantime
the Washington and Richmond Company
has the benefit Of the charter now before
us, if passed. The deposit of single dol.
lar is not required. 1t merely requires
TIE PAPER GUARANTEE OF AN OUTSIDE COR
PORATION.
And that corporation has now grown to
such colossal proportions that it is now
| liable to fall at any moment, and to crush
| in its fall the contiding persons who trust
in its guarantees.
BUT THERE ARE TWO OTHER CONDITIONS.
First, that the Norfolk and Great West
ern Company shall demand it. Suppose
they don't demand it; and then they don't
| guarantee at all. And if they do demand
it, before they do demand it we must show
solvent subscriptions to the capital stock
of the Norfolk and Great Western Com
| pany TO the amount ofS2, 100000. How are
we to get these subscriptions? 1 know
something of this company. 1t has paper
subscriptions to the amount Of S750,000,
which would not be worth in the mai ket
ten cents in the dollar. Are not these, then,
| insolventy And where are we to get sol.
vent subscriptions to the amount OF
TWO MILLION DOLLARS?
1t can't be raised, and the men asking
this charter know it is an impossibility.
They are not novices in the railroad busi-
ness, and are not scattering their green
backs about the Capitol of Virginia for any
thing but their own agrandizement. 1t is
idle to suppose that they are going to build
this road or any other road through mere
philanthropy. They are not such fools.
If you take the managers of the Pennsyl
yania Central Company for fools, you wake
up the wrong customers. They know full
well that these counties cannot raise S2,-
100000, and when knowing this they put
their promise in the Eond, they
DAMN THE MEASURE WITH FRAUD.
II we assent to it we put our assent to
measure which will deude and ruin our
people. Ii is an iusidious attempt to catch
the votes Of The four Senators flcm the
Southwest. We have voted against this
measure. We have said this scheme has not
our approval. And are we to be h!mbug-
ged by this chaff? / feel like
HuRLING THE INTERNAL THING BACK N THEIR
TEETH,
and can hardly discuss it dispassionately.
Can they mean anything else but to de-
fraud the Southwestern Senators of their
votes? They knew what would be an at
tractive bait, and they held out this glitter
ing, but really worthless, prize. They ask
us to stultify ourselves by voting for pro-
position which we have pronounced al.
ready so destructive of the best interests of
the state Of Virginia. We know, and
those who make this offer know, that we
cannot do what they require to obtain the
promised guarantee, and if obtained we
have no reason to believe it will be worth
anything. 1t is utterly impossible to get
S2, 100000 in solvent subscription from
counties or otherwise in the district west
of Danyille.
THE LOST CAUSE.
The Senator from Grayson has already
said he had considered the Norfolk and
Great Western railroad lost cause, and
that was the language of soberness and
truth and how is the lost cause to be re-
viyifed: BY S2,0O0,0O Of solvent subscrip.
tion, which cannot be made. The Norfolk
and Great Western to-day exists in name,
and nothing else, and are we to be defraud-
ed of our votes upon such flimsy pretext?
WHAT IS TO BE LOST?
1t has been said what are we TO lose if we
vote for the bill with this amendment. We
lose nothing, they say we have no railroad
now, and if these people break their
promises we will have none. What will we
lose? Do we not impair public confidence
when we lend ourselves to scheme that
has no merit and has no truth in It? Do
we not lose our own sense of self-respect
and forfeit our right to the confidence of
our people ? j wouldn't be party to of
tering to my people railroad with no SUBJ
stantial basis, and excite what might he
false hopes, for any mere chance of success.