Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1873-01-24

Mr.. 4fandy thoughE Mr.. Dunk1
should have specified his objections,
that the bill might be amended if ne
cessary. The committee having the
bill -eharge-had recommended it,
with an amendment which the friends
of the measure were bound to accept.
He called upon Mr.. Durham to specify
his objections.
+ Mr..Duhham WAS opposed to the bill
IN tOtO-tlierc was not a feature in it
that could meet with his approval. He
wished to know why the projectors of
the scheme had not incorporated the
provisions of this bill in the. original
charter =? This bill was on the calen-
dar while the railroad charter was be-
fore the Senate. The bill was too gen
erh III its character; the projectors
should specifically state what they want.
Mr.. NHrphy could not see the terri
ole dangers of the bill. The company
merely claimed the right to build the
road In its own way and the Legisla-
ture should not force it into measures.
He professed to know the objects of
| the bill. Old methods of doing bust
ness were passing away. The Con-
| struction Companies were a new
alliance, used in the Northern States,
! and even i'll our neighboring State,
Virginia. The objection seemed to be
more to the name than otherwise. '''
| MIR. MerrimOn said these great cor
porations We're not alarming merely to
the people of this State, but to the
! Congress of the United States, who
were devlslng means to check their
growing power. He objected to the
bill on account of the indefinite powers
1T sought-powers, extending even to
| the establishment of banks, sc. The
danger was that ere long they would
control the legislation of the State and
of the country. anil.
Mr.. Respass reminded Mr.. Merri-
mon that the amendment of the com
n1ittee restricted the company to the
building of the road. 80 -a
Mr.. Merrimon thought the amend
ment did no such thing The pro-
posed charter gave unlimited powers,
including that of issuing certificates of
Indebtedness, and to issue judgments.
He would not give his support to the
bill till its purposes were definitely
defined. .....
Mr.. Flemming said the power of issu-
ing judgment should be stricken from
the bill. The charter, however, to
build the road had been granted. Par
ties were coming to build the road, and
it seemed nothing but right that they
should be permitted to become incor-
porated to protect themselves and their
capital. 1t was proposed to establish
minor corporations under the grand
corporation.
Mr.. Durham did not think this COM
pany could he incorporated under the
general ac,, if he understood it's pro-
yy10 hn oh l,,l So -
projectors III not advising the Senate
of their purposes whilst the railroad
charter was under consideration He
charged bad faith in another respect
He was assured on the authority of a
Senator, that when the railroad bill
was up its friends gave repeated ASST
RANGES that it was not their purpose to
ask for subscriptions from counties,
whereas the present bill asked for
power to receive such subscriptions
He repeated that in the first instance
the Senate should have been advised
of all the powers sought for. f'
Mr.. Murphy did not SO understand
the projectors of the bill. he had re-
peatedly heard them declare that they
wanted every dollar that could be
raised in the State.
Mr.. Grandy denied that there had
been any bad faith on the part of the
friends of the bill. Both bills
were, before the Senate at the
same time. He repeated that the pre-
sent bill was merely i'll frlrtherance of
the building of the railroad. He
thought there should be no objection
to it as it proposed to bring into the
State from five to ten million of dollars
Mr.. Norwood objected to the bill as
being a leap in the dark, when light
might have been thrown upon it. - The
bill was a distinct measure, it. not hav-
ing been reported or acted upon in
conjunction with the railroad bill or
having been introduced as IL supple
ment to that bill. In passing the rail
road bill, the Senate had been told
that the projectors had an abundance
of means to complete the work After
the passage of that bill, then comes in
: the present bill to put into the hands
of the company the H.cd,x Of building
the road. He considered it very doubt
full whether the bill would have passed
had this condition of affairs been I'M
|. derstood at the time. He was not in
formed at the time the privilege of
building this road was granted that the
company had not the means of
completing it. As to building the
road being the real purpose of
the bill, Mr.. Norwood had his
doubts. He asked Senators to read
the bill and they would not find a word
, pointing i'll that direction; and but for
the amendment of the Committee. no
: connection whatever could be traced be-
, tween them. The bill before the Sen
ate simpyl asked power to 10 any
thing, at any time and in any place
, within the limits of the State. The
amedments of the Committee had to
{ define its object somewhat by provid-
ing that the powers sought should be
, necessary to the construction of the
road" But another section of the bill
gave the Company power to make,
= create and issue bonds, mortgages,
Judgments, certificates of indebted
ness and all other papers--for what?
, asked Mr.. Norwood; not as necessary
| to construct the New York, Norfolk 4
Charleston Railroad" but as ''neces-
, sary to its (the company's) businessl -
. Mr.. Norwood stigmatized the bill as
''huge, mis-shaped, blind monster -
1t almost, said he, enables the compa-
ny to constitute themselves court
of Justice. They claimed the power
, to issue Judgments and even to issue
He was opposed to any such bill He
, had come to that pass when he had
given up all hope of North Carolina
having any State pride, and he would
now go for her material prosperity, sup
: porting any measure to that end.
. Mr.. Troy called the previous ques-
ton. The call was sustained, and the
amendment of the committee was
, adopted.
The question then recnrred on the
passage of the bill on its second read
ing, and the bill failed to pass by a
vote of "a to IA, as follows
Those who voted i'm the affirmative
were .r.st.t -... ...
Messrs. Cramer, Flemming, Grandy,
Gndger, Harris, Hoffman, LYMAN,
Long, McCotter, Murphy, Respass,
; Seymour, Smith and Welch-14.
! Those who voted i'm the nepatiy We