The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-07-16
GlNGrteLIiaenter:
The p. w. & X. Railway SubscriP.
tiou..IDjunctIOn Asked For.

The p, w, & X. Railway SubscriP'
tiou..IDjunctiOn Asked For
A petition was filed with Judge MIL
YIN Yesterday asking him to eDjoin th'
County Commissioners from paying th'
&l5OOO subscribed by them on behalf o
the county to the stock Of the Pittsburgh
Wheeling & Kentucky Railway Company
to secure the. completion Of that road
We have not seen the petition, but learl
that the injunction Is asked on the grount
that the Commissioners had no authority
under the constitution, or rather are for
biddsn by that instrument, to make th'
subscription without submitting the pro
position TO popular vote and receiving
three.tllths aflrmativemajority. We write
this paragraph without opportunity tc
make an exhaustive search for this sup
posed constitutional inhibition, and with
out that will not assert positively that
there Is no such provision, but we incline
TO think there Is not. II there is any 1t
ought to appear in the article on Finance
and Taxation, but in that article we
DO not find anything that applies to this
case. The 9Th section Of that article
iorbids tho creation Of any debt by
county unless all questions connected
with it have been submitted TO the people,
and unless tho proposition has received a
three.fltths majority. But that does not
spply to the case in hand, for It Is not pro.
posed to create any debt The Commls-
sioners simply propose, as we understand,
to make an expenditure Of money. They
have made the subscription and propose
to pay 1t down. We take 1t the Commis.
soners OF the county have full discretion
rs 10 the expenditure Of the county reYe-
nues. We arc not aware any Limitation
at all on this discretion. We are not clear
but there ought TO be provision forbid
ding the investment Of any county funds
In the stock Of a railway or other private
corporation, without vote of the people;
but we are not aware that there is
any. With present information we do
not perceive what constitutional or
other legal restriction there is to
forbid the County Commissioners from
making the expenditure proposed by
them In the purch ase OF this P, W, s K.
railway stock. II certainly comes under
no provision Of the constitution in
relation to the creation OF debt In aid of
corporations, for, as we remarked, no
debt Ia to be created. The Commission.
ers simply vote funds Of the county,
which 1t Is their province 10 diRburse at
their discretion, for purpose which they
conceive 10 be Of so much value 10 the
county as amply to justify the expendi-
ture. The object OF the expenditure is
one that commends itself TO the vast
majority Of the people Of the county, II
there is any valid legal objection to the
mode Of procedure, weshsll not object to
calling a halt and correcting it by an
election, for we do not believe in allowing
any irregulsrity in the modes OF trans
acting the public business. Let US live
up to the requirements of the law, what
ever they may be. For the present,
however, we arc Of opinion that these
petitioners are in error, and that the action
Of the Commissioners Is strictly in order.