The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-02-09

ana are hQDleCt " lekLHlA4Na ghASLRbnti
pTllss1 protected BIZ leif ehGTtsF.",
But, said Mr.. Mofett, II all these lu'
thoTities were mistaken, and the gentle
man from Kanawhs Wilson, right, the
particular bill under consideration Is an
impracticable and unnecessary measure,
The proposition that West Virginia can
regulate commerce on railroads partly
within and partly without the State was
characterized Gs ridiculous. But the
crudest part Of the bill was the section in
which it was attempted to classify freight
Il originally put live stock OF ell kinds
and all heavy freights in the same class;
in other words, the railroad must trans.
port q car load OF blooded horses worth
SO, 900 for the same price 1t charged for q
car load Of iron.ore.
A very peculiar feature OF the bill, IN
inconpruity which serves to show the In
considerate manner in which It has been
prepared, was pointed out, 1t specifies
that "in no case shall company charge
more for longer than shorter distance"
Yet by the rates fixed by the bill the
charge for six miles would be less than Tor
five; for 10, less than for 10; for 20, materi-
ally less than for % miles, and so on. 1t
was also shown that the prevailing rates
on the railroads were in no case as high
% those fixed by this bill,
II ia customary with certain gentlemen
to refer to railroad companies as Gigantic
monopolies which are fast crushing the
lie out OF the industries OF the country"
"Let u.s." said the speaker, "examine
and see whether the language is accurate,
or whether it Is sound and fury slgpiiying
nothing"
A comparison was then drawn between
the days when pack horses formed the
principal means OF transportation and the
present, and OF the days Of wagons and
stage coaches with our rapid age. "When
there were no railroads population was
sparse, the lands principally In virgin
state, no towns, no manufactures, no col.
liers, no furnaces. Now villages and
towns are dotted along Its line, manufac-
tories and furnaces have sprung up, coal
banks have been opened, new industries
are every day being originated, 0 happy,
thriving population teens along It's path
ways; the lands have been cleared and the
deer and the elk have given away to herds
oil short horns and tiUCks OF merinoB, The
little town OF Wheeling has grown into q
magnificent city, renowned the world over
for It's enterprise In manufacture. Does
this look like crushing the lie out Of the
industries OF this seclionP
"But TO get down to more specific de
tails. Let US transfer our attention TO the
southern border Of the State. the section
trayersed by the Ohesapeake& Ohio Rail-
road, the country OF the patron OF this bill,
and let US see how the energies oil that re.
gion have been crushed, Remember now,
that ths Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was
not completed till 1873, that II was not In
a fair business order until 1874. From 1870
to 1880 tho population composing the
Third Congressional District increased
81 900, or 81 per cent, nearly as much as
the other two districts together. At the
time the road was opened not coal mine
was in operation on the south side OF the
New or Kanawha river, and not one above
the Kanawha falls on either side. Now
from the mouth OF the Greenbrior TO the
lower kanawha region Is one succession
Of, cQllieries, q section soon to stand as the
rival, II not the superior oiany coal mining
region In the world. Does that look like
tuo IhAlloAu Ahu SluoueA Out tAo luuublIleb
oil that seCtionP
"When the road went into operation
there was not an iron furnace along It's
line; now there are five or six, and others
In rapid process Of construction. There
wAH not steam saw mill, now there are
Siriyeight, and the interest In the lumber
busidess rapidly increasing. say nothing
Of the Coking ovens and other depart.
ments oil industry sprlnglng up, nor Of
the numerous towns and villages rearing
their heads where less than decade ago
was q solitary wild. Task in all Candor II
the energies Of that section have been par
alyzed by that gigantic monopoly"
In tho course Of bis remarks Mr.. Moi.
lett sent to the Clerks desk and had read,
by request, the following telegram.
RICHMOND, VA, February 7, 1881.
10 W. II. ROyeman, Mcclure HOUSE, Wheel.
ing:
l am perfectly certain that l never wrote
Faulkner any letter In my life that by any
possibility could be construed into an init
nation that he could not get transporta.
ton for coal unless shipped by the agency.
W, q. WIcKHAM,
Second Vice.P President.
NEw York, Feb. 5, 1881.