The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-03-30
ticlc Of the Constitution OF the United

ticlc of the Constitution OF the United
States.
These constitutional objections having
irresistibly impelled me to negative the bill,
| am warranted, and, in frankness, re-
uuired, by due considerations Of Difference
to the legislative department, to suggest
some
OPINIONS UPON THE GENERAL MERITS OF THE
MEASURE.
What impresses me as an insuperable OBJ
lection to the bill Is that 1t ties the hands OF
the Common wealth and paralyZes the power
of the government over vital Interest du-
ring-th period of this generation. The
great body Of the people, with rarely an
execution, deplore and denounce rs ini-
quito,ls the provisions OF the funding bull,
because they involve an irrepealable con-
tract which depriyes the State OF legiti-
mate control over its taxation, finances, and
revenues during a period OF years. Ir
nv opinion that fatal policy ls reproduced
In this bill, for it puts beyond the reach
of legislation, for twenty years to come, q
great property which virtually belongs to
the Commonwealth. For that period OF
time the property Is surrenderedt to the con-
troll of three private individuals who exc
cute a contract without giving security for
performing it, and whose credit, response
bilty, and solYency are yet to be determined.
No matter what fatal errors in this arrange
ment may hereafter appear from the actual
working OF it, still future Legislatures Will
be poWerless to revoke or alter the covenants
now sought to be fixed and fastened upon
the Commonwealth.
COVENANTS OF THE PROPOSED LEASE NOT
RECIPROCAL.
1t is, moreover, notable that the covenants
OF the proposed lease are far from being
reciprocal. They bind the Commonwealth
,rreYocably on the one hand, while in inn
portant particulars they leave the lessees
comparatively free on the other. BY de-
fault on their part (whethcr voluntary or
not). by mere negative action, by nom
compliance with the stipulations Of their
contract, the lessees may terminate the
lease in its forfeiture. II at the end OF q
given period the lease shall be found to have
Welded profitable returns, however great,
the lessces will hold and keep the profits
as their own. If on the other hand the
arrangement prove improbable, and in-
volve actual loss to the canal company
and to the State, no covenant will re-
quirc the lessees to pay an equivalent,
or in any way make good the loss. Ii by
reason OF an extraordinary freshet, or II
from ordinary or any other causes the lease
shall terminate in failure or disaster, then
the company and the State must bear the
burthen OF it. In several possible contln-
gcncies the State cannot gain and the les
sees cannot lose.
The limits of this message forbid me to
comment upon those provisions OF the bill
which, in my view, create monstrous mo-
nopoly by transferring the property, pow
ers, and franchises OF the James River and
kanawha Company from the possession OF
incorporated proprietors to new and close
corporation of three men; and which give
to the transferces dangerous powers over
the people who depend upon the canal for
Transportation and other facilities.
But how is it possible, financially, for the
James River and kanawha Company to
maintain its existence under the operation
OF this bill? Let the facts answer.
DEBTS AND OBLIGATIONS.
The bill strips the company OF Its rev.
cnues and its sources OF revenue on the
one hand, and requires it to pay debts
which it is thus incapacitated to pay on the
other. It proposes to dispossess the COM
pauy of its property, works. and franchises,
including the Richmond dock, locks, and
basin; the entire canal itself, with its tow
paths, dams, water-power, rents, and the
benefits of every existing contract; except
ing nothing from the transfer but its Offices
at Richmond and their contents. All these
rights and properties are to be delivered
up, without security therefor, to three
named lessees by contract which, so far
as the State is concerned, is to be 1rrevoca-
BILE and unalterabe for twenty years. At
the same time the company is required to
provide for the payment OF all its matured
obligations, constituting liens by mortgage,
Judgment, or otherwise, and remaining un-
paid at the date of the lease; also, all the
interest falling due on its mortgage debt In
May next, which shall have accrued up to
the time when the lessees take possession OF
the premises. The records Of the company
show that the claims against it, overdue
and demandable on the 10th OF May next,
will stand as follows
| Interest on first and fecond mortgage