Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-01-07

public opinion of the State, in the right de,
rec.iop. About the same time the Chairman
of the Committee on Corporations in the
Constitutional Convention, (Hon. WIN. 81.
TraversD reported the bill requiring; the
Legislature to regulate eicharges upon the
railroads of the State. Our'ultimate success,
therefore, is only matter of time, as all the
principles upon which the reform and our re-
lief, are dependent have been fully recog-
missed. The present, orprobably, the succeed.
ing Legislature will, we hope and believe, in
pursuance of the Constitution, give the much
needed relief For the services rendered in
this matter we have thus far received fee of
one hundred dollars, together with an addi-
tiona appropriation Of two hundred dollars to
defray travelling expenses, and the cost of
printing. The time employed in exclusive
devotion to this i'm ortart object occupied the
joint or several service of the undersigned for
at least two months
The second matter in which we were EN-.
ployed by you was TO guard the interests Of
the County in the payment of its conditional
subscription to the Shenandoah Valley Rail-
road, and to counsel and advise the Commits
sioners whom your body appointed to superin-
tend the exchange of the County bonds for
shares of stock. This has been one Of the
most delicate, responsible, and, we will add,
|
the profession. In its execution, the senior
member of the firm has attended every meet.
ing OF the stockholders held since our em~
| ploynent. His object was to obtain such in
| formation az would enable us to give proner
| advice in the interest of the County. We
have attended the meetings Of your Board
when subjects were discussed connected with
| the said Subscription, and given our legal
| opinion and advice. The senior member of
our firm has attended every meeting of the
| Commissioners, who have indeed declined to
| pay over tho bonds except after consulting
and advising with us, as the counsel of the
| County in this matter. We have endeavored
| to exercise proper degree of frnness in dis
charging this important duty. and have the
evidence to show chat our vigilance has pre-
vented the payment of at least ST 900 worth
! of bonds fnr over-estimated work done, and
materials furnished. under the CONTRACT. or
conditional SUBSCRIPTION. Although the whole
amount subscribed will all be paid when the
road is completed, we have felt it our duty to
guard against the temptation OF its abandon-
! ment by paying for exh0rbitant estimates.
| Moreover the saving of interest to the County
is very considerable, and in the over estimates
| alluded to would have amounted to some ST.
| 500 or upwards Our employment by the Com
pany has terminated, owing, we are convinced,
! to the fact that we declined to defend their
interests when adverse to those of the County
For services rendered you in this behalf we
herewith present our bill for S500.-crediting
the County with 500, already paid to Gefra7
| expenses of travelling to Front Royal, where
the Stockholders have been in the habit Of
meeting. /!
TIE third and last matter in which we were
employed by your honorable body was as your
counsel n the mi Mn or SI,it of tha JS,l,
more Il Ohio Railroad Co as Jefferson County,
| pending in the Circuit Court of the United
States, for Vest Virginia, and 10 connection
Herewith to recover the back taxes due the
County This suit was brought to inioin
the collection of said taxes levied for County
and township purposes by this County. You
authorized US, as your counsel, TO compromise
the suit by receiving such gross amount as we
should agree upon with the Company. This
latter authority, however, You subsequently,,
by implication revoked. In denlendinc the
said suit we repaired 10 Parkersburg, on two
occasions, and took such action as its cxigen>
cies demanded, and took copies of the plead
incs in similar suits. In tlc Preston County
suit. which regarded az test case, we in
tended at its trial and before it's decision to
file our argument and made preparation there's
TOR. In the mean time, proposition came 1
from the Company to your Board to effect n
settlement, through a committee of your own
body ana accordingly you passed an order on
the 9TH day of December, instant, appointing
committee of four to respond to the over
lures of the Company, by visiting Baltimore
and entering into negotiations. This COM
mittee visited Baltimore twice, and. in ac-
cnrdance with your order, were accompai,ied
by US counsel We made out bill for
unpaid taxes due the County which amounted
to ab"nt S2l, 600. We advise your commit
tee, at the same time, that there were some
offsets justly allowable, and some legal diff
cuties neculiar to the case of Jefferson County,
the Winchester < Potomac branch did not
touch any other County in this State and as
our textbooks showed mere trihe actually
assessed against the Company. In the first
place, under the tax law, one Co,npany can
not be taxed to construct another Railroad
aud this would exempt the Company from so
much of the tax for 1872 as was levied to nav
the interest on the bonds issued to aid the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad secondly, for
the year 1870 the rule adopted by your body
as to other tax peyars the Shenandoah
River, would exempt the ". g. p. branch for
that year, as that road suffered severe damage
from the flood again there was serious doubt
whether the omission to assess the personal
property Of the Company could he corrected
lof t"tiou laltheF PACK IMAM two years.
And finally the action of the Legislature of
Virginia left most grave doubt whether they in.
tended to subject the Winchester & Potomac
Road to taxation at all. Under these diff
cnlties peculiar to our case, AID apart from
those general questions involved in the case
of other Counties. thought your commit-
tee would be entirely justfiabe in compro>
missing upon So 600, and we so advised them.
As they have reported to you. they finally
compromised on SO, 900. They have report,
ed to You their action, and recommended its
favorable consideration.
Very respectfully,