The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-10-06
Lu.1oR VANCE TO HIS CON.
Ser" sTITUENTS!
oovyew of the Railroad Trou-
n,as, and q Bold Blast
Against Monopoly!
God Save the
Right
.l R,o3L If North Carolinn.

D. the Ps2pL ~ Norm C'ro'""n.
-, the 2yrh of March. 1880, there
ns-,ej an act OF the General Assem-
~ - nrovide for the sale of the States
=: in the Western North Carolina
y I'D. This act provided, among
n ~ -bings. in sections 8 aid 81, that
Odd ROAD should be finished by the
.T,.er, to Paint Rock on the LIST Of
e 1881, and to the town of Muir
- in Cherokee county, on the LIST
: ~,ruiry. 1885, and that after the
vi had reached .Ashevi,ie, a sufficient
80 should be put uron the Ducktown
r., and kept at work to complete it, as
- - the Pigeon River, by the time the
n.bcr branch was finished to Paint Rock,
t,-git: the lst OF July, 1881. 1t was
$50 nroviied in section 20, that the
ngr.basers of said road shall not ds
Inmate agninst North Carolina towns
AL cities in the matter of transportation
Cos. and that no discrimination shall
l.. made bettreen the towns and cities o;
Nth Carolina" By section IA it is
TED that Thomas j. Jarvis, Zeb-
i Vance and John n. Worth be
81 thew are hereby appointed commits
5,r.r. to examine the work upon said
81" etc ; and by section Is it il
,iIed that said commissioner.
In from time to time, aud certainly as
a. EN- as tea miles Of said road shall be
n. in running order, examine the work
thereon and In case of failure Of said
grantees or their assigns to construct
IT, same, according to terms of their
c,ltrsct, TO give due notice thereof to
tn United States Trust Company, of
New York" My appointment as a
commissioner by the act recited, aud
npr BY W. J. Best, as has been falsely
A., erted, was without my knowledge or
saicitation. / assumed the duties
II .reby imposed with reluctance, but 4
termination to discharge them faith
fl Y for the best interests of the State.
suuch as pya action In the premises
h. been made the subject of criticism
or the part oil the Richmond and Dan
Vi ; Railroad Company, to whom the
III, original grantees assigned this con
II It. [ deem 1t proper to address to
yll this communication. In explanation
thereof.
~ section 2s it is provided that
should the said grantees OIL their assigns
b. hintared or delayed by any cause,
fr which they are III 40 wise RESPONSE
b.. then the said commissioners shall
gr,nt a reasonable extension of time for
the .a.upletion of SAID line of road"
Esw. let Us lock briefly at what has
br,s lone unier this contract: Work
W. t. ave been begun within two
n@Ith,, TO- VIZ: on the 29th OF MAY.
Ttsre we're n work when this act was
based bet wesu four aud ave hundred
ksnas-csnvicK. In due time the time
tn STAT. rendered the remainder Of
III. five hundred convjcts, which she
had agreed to furnish. They were not
accepted for reasons satisfactory to the
grantees. In July, 1880, Mr.. Best
having failed TO laiss the necessary
sums If money through the abandon
melt Of els associates, assigned his
interest to Msssrs. Buford, Logan and
Ciyds. With the number Of convicts
OIL hand and no hired labor whatever.
except some Indispensable skilled Ia
bzr, tue work was SLOWLY and lndlHsr-
sGtly prosecuted until the S0th day Of
AsrIl, 1881. 1t was an acknowledged
fact that if ;hs whole Eve hundred con
Victs had been kept constantly at work
tzey alone could not have finished the
road to Paint Rock and Pigeon River
in contract time. True, in September,
1850. the assleless did demand the
complement of convicts, but the State
had then Other wise disposed of them.
True, it il, also, thst the winter was one
of unusual severity ;but during the long
se,.on of fse working weather, which
preceded and followed that winter, up
s. June, of the present year, no dill
fsnee and energy were manifested In
It's prosecution of the work, and no
a1iitionai labor VA employed to reach
t1s points designated In the time re-
qIirsd by the Contract. In April last,
OF my way from home 20 Washington
Cry. the train was boarded at Greens
boro by the President OF the Western
Nerth Carolina Railroad Company,
who, during = hal Of Ave minutes,
asked me to siga q paper granting an
extensions Of foar mouths time. | re-
fused with some indignation, and in
formed him that l would net act upon
So important matter in that hasty way
or without full consultation with my as
soci.tss on the board which was coAven
Ell IA Raleigh on the 30th. Atthis meet
iLs the proposition for An extension of
time was signed only by the President
Of the Western North Carolina Railroad
Company and proposed to put six hun
dred (6OO). additional hands on the
work. Objection was made to this,
hfst that the Commissioners were re-
qlired 10y law to deal with the grantsei
o thar assigns, and not the Railroad
Clmpany; second, that the proposition
id not compel them to put any hands
a al On the Ducktown line. After
n2ch discussion it was finally agreed
b tia Board that i. q new proposition
Wm presented, signed by the proper
p.rsiss and stipulating for q division OF
tia additional labor between the tive
b.anches, that we would grant the Ok.
teasion of time, and it was understood
that TIN, corrected paper was to be
considered at cur next meeting, when
va were to go over aud examine tn,
read. [ also contended in the board
t~renususly, that the amended PROPOSE
ton should contain an agreement or
tia part Of the assigEesst to waive finally
and forever ali legal advantage to then
from the Safes failure to furnish chen
tHe full number of %cUnvicts, after theil
demand In September. In this l wa,
ogcrrulsd. Ny assent to this was Civ
en- very reluctantly. / had become bs
fore this firmly convinced that the as
sIgnsss did not Intended to fulhl thsi.
contract, for many reasons, most o
which have heretofore been given t.
the public. | will here mention opl,