The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-11-15
keG3teIliqraee1

TLs cumberland Road..Claim fol
E,traordlnary Exemptions .. Sur
pIus Fund. ..... -.r...
From Yesterdays RegiStsrl
This road was constructed by the gen
s,al government under the laws OF The
I'ni,ed States. The States through which
II n'Sses have no authority over this road,
Seyopd the powers given to them by the
SriS n cessIon, which gave them 10 the
SiStes respectively. That portion oil the
roSI which lies In the State Of West Vir.
sInIs was ceded 10 the State Of Virginia
6y The act Of Congress, passed February
III, 1889, and may be found In volume 4,
United States statutes at large, page
S55-I Tho provisions In that act to
which I call attention are as follows:
"Apy person passing to or from public Wor-
,bIp or 10 or from visit to . iItenu, or other
SsscE within the county In which he resides, or
mn nom any mustsrS, or TO or from his COM
nou busluetS on his farm or woodland or 70 or
iSSua funeral, or 10 or from Amill or school, or
% or from his common pAcs Of trading or mar
SstInR within the county Ia which ho resides,
ipeIudlnH the Wagont, carriages, hOrtes AndIoxen
drawing the same, 70 be applied solely and sx-
s,Sysnent Of said road and expenses Incident
hereto aud to no other purpose whAtever."
These parties and persons so using the
road are exempt from toll under that act,
Inquire of the Superintendent or the
gste keeper, for they ought to know by
TLa, authority many OF the persons
designated In that act as exempt from toll
are made to pay tolls? BY what right or
authority have the tolls on these persons
been collected and all the tolls kept 80
high that last spring there was a surplus
otIour or five thousand dollars to the
credit OF the road when the act of Con.
gres expressly stipulates that no more
,olls shall be collected than what are sufil.
Clent to keep the road in ordeFI
1.-THE answer shall be that It Is by tho
law Of the State, Code Ala, section 9, the
answer Is that this section only applies to
tufDpikes constructed by the State and
over which it has entire Jurisdiction, and
cannot by implication include the Cum.
berland road, especially so Tar Include 1t
1tO break faith with Congress as to these
provisions. take 1t that the terms oil
ihe grant from the United States has
something to do with the matter, and that
neither the officers Of the roHd, the Board
Of Public Works nor the State itself eau
30 beyond the terms Of the grant W.
The writer OF the foregoing has fallen
into an error as to exemptions. What he
quotes from is the Act passed by the Gen.
enl Assembly OF Virginia, accepting so
much Of the Cumberland Road as lay in
Virginia, whenever Congress might sur.
render it 10 the State, and providing reg.
ulA!iOnS for Its management. This act
was sssented to by Congress, embodied
by 1t In tho act OF assent, and was thus
invested with the authority OF All United
States statute. But this same act Of the
Virginia Assembly which is set forth IN
this act of Congress and assented TO, ex.
pressly reserved the right to the Virginia
Assembly, without the consent Of Con.
gres', to change, alter or amend this act," |"
but such amendments were not to be
made US should reduce the revenues Of
the road below or raise them above the
sun necessary to keep the road in repair
and pay salaries of officers Of the road.
The Virginia Code did make such amend.
meutS, we believe, as to repeal most Of the
exemptions quoted by the Registers cor
respondent, and had full authority for 80
doing In the reservation made in the same
act, this reservation being asscnted to by
Congress as fully as any other part OF the
set.
The point made by the correspondent
about the large surplus accumulated out
Of excessive tolls is is good one, II It Is
& fact that there lssuch a surplus. That
Is krxpressly forbidden by the act Of Con-
gresS which cannot be contravcned by
'ne otate authority. Inc correspondent
Is also correct, it seems to us, in saying
the provisions Of section 6 of chapter 81
Of The Code, on tho subject OF tolls, do
not apply TO the Cumberland road, for
which separate provision Is made in the
preceding sections. It's therein provided
that the Board Of Public Works shall fix
the amount Of tolls on this road; but In
providing that the surplus arising from
them should be paid into the treasury,
the Legislature apparently overlooked the
requirement that there SIould BE- no surplus.
Ii the tolls yield a surplus. 1t Is the duty
Of The Board of Public Works to reduce
them till they shall yield just what is re-
Quired for tho expenses of the road.