The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1871-09-26
GhAgnteuiqent
The Intorviewers and their Report

A committee of three was appointed BY
order of the Board OF Supervisors, on the
2sd ult, and instructed by the following
resolution
ResolUed, That the President be and Ii
hereby authorized to appoint committee
of three citizens to confer with Thoma!
Scott, ESD, Vice President of the Penn
sylyania Central Railroad Company, will
view of asCertaining upon what term!
he will aid Ohio county to construct tht
Pittsburgh, Wheeling & Kentucky rail
rsad to the city of Wheeling, or get from
him a definite proposition whereby ono
county's interests would be protected IL
case she decides by a vote of the people
to make subscription of $l5O,OOO to said
road.
The report Of that committee was sub
mitted to the Board yesterday and ap'
pears in full in our local columns this
morning, They reporta definite propo'
sitiOn from Mr.. SCoTT, substantially this;
/. That II the roadway is constructed,
this including grading, culverts, walls and
bridges, right of way and depot grounds,
his company will put on the track (ties
ballast and rails, make switches, build de-
pots and stations and equip with rolling
stock, in short complete and equip the
road for business and for tho actual cost
of so doing receive preferred 7 per cent
stock, this county and Brooke receiving
common stock for the cost incurred by
them. 2. That his company will operate
the road as an integral part Of their own,
charging the actual cost of so doing and
crcdting the branch with all local earn
ings and its proportion OF earnings on
through business
The Board, It will he seen, postponed
action until the next meeting, appointed
committee to report cost Of right Of way
and depot grounds, and ordered the en-.
ployment Of an engineer to go over the
ground and report cost Of road bed and
masonry, as proposed, We have no
fault to find with this action. When this
committee was appointed to interview
SCOTr, the Board ought to have ordered
these other reports which 1t ordered yes.
terday; and had 1t done so, would have
been able yesterday to take intelligent and
final action, with all the facts in hand;
hut not having done that, It was best not
to order mn election till the public could
he exactly informed how much they were
voting TO eXpend.
But now word about the report Of
Mr.. SALTsBURY's committee. We have
printed the resolution instructlng them, so
that Thereafter may see how far they have
Travelled out Of their way, and judge the
purpose of their doing so. The com.
mittec begin their report by gravcly as.
suring the Board that they arc decidedly
in favor" Of subscription to the p, Wa
X. road; but they go on to qualify this
with such conditions that the declaration
means nothing. Butsupposc they are In
favor Of 1t, they were not asked by the
Board for any information on that sub.
jeCt; nor for their views on the subscrip-
ton some twenty years ago to the Hemp.
field. Their information and advice on
these points arc entirely gratutous, how.
ever benevolGntly intended. Nor were
they instructed to report estimates Of the
cost of the projected road; nor was 1t
anything but an impertinence for them
tOdo so, just as in the other instances men.
toned. The Supervisors prefer to get
that information from engineers who
might be presumed to know something
about making estimates Of that kind, and
not from lawyers or lumber merchants,
who would be presumed to know moth.
ing. The committee have guessed that
the road bed will cost $4,000 a mile, and
they seem to suppose Ohio county Is
called upon 10 build 90 miles instead of
ten. Why do they make any gucsses on
the SubjeCtS They were not asked to do
so The effect Is to mislead the public
and create the impression Of n cost twice
ny great as it will be, so that the people OF
the county may be frightened into pre-
cipIlatc abandonment OF the whole pro.
jeCL OF course n committee 80 devoted.
ly in favor Of the road did not
mean to produce any such effect rs this.
We are therefore at loss to know why
they went so lar outside Of their instr,lc.
lions TO make what they are pleased to
refer to as these estimates" Then, rs II
to insure that the people eshould be fright.
ened out Of the project by the magnitude
of the sum asked for, this very superser.
Viceabie committee report the draft oI
an ordinance for holding an election
fixing the subscription at $30O,OOO-as II
the committee assumed that the super.
V'sors wouldn't know enough about their
own business to know how to order the
election and fix the maximum to suiI
themselves
Upon the whole we have never seen a
report where committee under definite
written instructions took greater liberties
with their authority, or liberties more
Justly offensive to the appointing body
The committees report should have stop.
ped with Mr.. scorr's proposition. All
the rest is gratuitous and great deal oil
it highly impertinent.