The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-12-30

construct o longer line,' OI which this L
% form Q part BY putting together The
detached pieces constructed or partly
constructed by these municipal bodies
tue company Is enabled TO possess itsel
o. q railroad line very largely constructed
upnn public credit. And ibis Is exactly
what 10 openly proposed in the case L
which you refer, and Ia others which
have come 10 our notice. When reduced
to practice, tho thin DISCUSSES OF the
statute are Instantly dispelled. II Is nc
longer political communities constructing
with their own means, and for their sole
benefit and use, as In the case supposed
BY the Supreme Court, highways 10 be
possessed and used by the public,
The law does not give particle OF au.
thortty to complete them ready for use, OF
to use them when completed. In fact, In
every case, Il ls the simple appeal Of some
railroad company To the communities
along It's line, to aid them, by using The
public credit, TO construct parts Of q rail.
road, already located by them, and with
the full understanding or positive agree
ment, that when constructed, II goes into
their possession, Is devoted to Gsir use
and becomes part Of their line. This
appeal, 1t Is true, Is enforced, as subscrip.
tons to stock formerly were, by glowing
anticipatiOns Of the incidental benefits "a
DO derived from the operation Of the line
and the positive assurance that the rail-
road company will pay the public debt.
These antici patlons may or may not be
realized, and these assurances may or
may not be good. Unfortunately, the
history OF the past gives very little assur.
ance OF safety 10 the future. But sale or
not safe, some one having proper respect
for the constitution oil his State, may dc.
sire to know, how much aid can be- af-
forded the company, consistently with a
constitutional provision, which positively
prohibits these communities from using
their money or credit 10 extend aid 10
corporations In any form. The Gun.
ningly devised but completely falIacious
answer Is this, you cannot aid US by sub
scribing to our stock; that Is forbidden:
you cannot aid us by either raising money
for US or lending US your credit; that also
Is forbidden; but you can aid US Just as
effectively by using your money and credit
to construct a piece oil railroad for US, and
that Is not forbidden The distinction is
this, you are prohibited from furnishing
us with either money or credit to enable
US to build the road, but you may use the
same money and credit to build the road
for US. The former would be aiding US
by the use of.your money or credit, while
the latter does not Such an explanation
hardly merits reply. 1t ID not only
distinction without any substantial differ.
ence, but the very thing supposed to DO
allowed Is the very thing positively con.
demned BY the explicit words Of the last
clause OF the section. The same public
Indebtedness Is created, the proceeds are
applied 10 the same purpose, the thing
produced is(the same, and the ultimate
ownership oil the property IS the same, as
though hecredit had been directly loaned
u the corporation. it simply amounts
to loan Of the public credit, for the
benefit Of the corporation, and in aid Of
It's undertaking, upon its agreement TO
save the public harmless by paying the
debt itself.
But II this last claim had not been in
serted, upon the principles Of construction
already referred to, the result would DO
the same. The convention was not max.
ing war upon shadows or forms. 1t was
encountertng what was supposed to be
the great evil Of allowing the local COM
mittees to mingle public with corporate
affairs, and thereby cntailirg upon the
taxpayers the consequences Of the great
burdens, frauds, corruptions and repudia.
tons too often incident 10 corporate man.
agement. 1t was composed OF men hay-
ing tolerable understanding of the Eng
lish language, and considerable expert
ence in business and public affairs; and
when they undertook SO repreSs d great
evil, the fair presumption should be that
they had sagactty enough 10 doit. They
have done 1t; and II the section was re-
written to-day, without descending into
mere detail, 1t could not be more explicit.
After condemning in terms the form OF
abuse then practiced, and still foreseeing
that, like the hydra, the abuse might have
other heads, they have equally condemn.
ed all the possible forms In which the
public money or the public credit might
be brought to the aid Of corporations.
Indeed, II the abuse was still 10 continue,
there Is little difficulty in seeing that the
original form in which III was practiced
would DO least dangerous to these CON-
munities. In that they might be saddled
with heavy debts, onerous taxation, and
great ultimate loss; but they escaped
what Is still worse, and Is nSepsrably in
cident to this mode; the casting upon
public officers the performance Of duties
for which they can have no qualiflca-
tons, aRd the inevitable tendency TO cor.
ruptton incident TO the expenditure of
immense sums Of money upon tho con-
tracts necessary to the performance Of
such work; and what Is worse than all,
imposing. upon them the unequal task and
ever recurring temptations growing out
of such heavy dealings with great cor.
porAtious.
The grounds upon which VIC place our
conclusion that this whole scheme is lille.
gal, have never yet been passed upon by
the Supreme Court. That some OF them
might have arisen in the Cincinnati case
Is very likely; but that they did not en-.
gage the attention Of either counsel or the
court Is positively certain. What that
court may decide when these questions
come before 1t, we have no means OF
knowing, We can only say for ourselves
that, without shadow OF doubt or mis-.
giving, VIC regard these proceedings as
involving q dangerous violation of the
Constitution; and we think it tho duty Of
tho people, whose work the Constitution
Is, and who must always be relied upon
az It's especial guardians; oil the Legisla.
ture, whose existence Is derived from It,
and whose acts are all subordinate to It's
authority; and Of the courts, who are
placed as sentlnels around it to guard it
from all invaslons, come from what quar-.
ter they may, to stamp this violation
with instant reprobatlon.
R. P. RANNET,