The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1908-06-05
Second Annual Banquet of the
Chamber of Commerce a
Brilliant Event.
The NEEDS OF THE CITY
For Desired Future Develop
ment EIouuently Told Of
by Speakers.

1--WE can have a Greater Clarks-
burg of 100000 people and more; !;
we have the location, a prodigious
endowment of natural resources, and
a people of intelligence, vim and am
bition that will get 1T; We can: ergo,
let us do"
Thus substantially spoke Judge
Nathan Coffin an eloquent. edifying
entertaining and inspiring address
to an assemblage of one hundred and
fifty leading business men OF
the city of Clarksburg at the second
annual banquet of the Clarksburg
Board of Trade in the beautiful din
ing hall of the Waldo hotel Thurs
day night.
Auditors Entranced.
For more than an hour, and half
Judge Goff, full of his old time spirit
of oratory and inspired with a zeal
for the welfare and progress of his
native city. held his audience en-
thralled with his eloquence and mag
netic personality. He was greeted
with prolonged applause, cheered to
the echo at points of emphasis and
sentiment, and, whenshe had finished,
the entire assemblage stood and re-
sponded to a toast in his honor by
John w, Davis, the POSTMASTER of
the occasion.
Judge Cor responded to the toast,
" "Clarksburg.' He told of the early
history of Clarksburg; of the hard
ships OF the pioneer settlers, of the
establishment of the town. of, Its his
tory during the Revolutionary8per
of the Clarksburg of his boyhood
days, OF the city's recent develop
ment, and of the possibilities and
hopes OF the immediate future.
The Old ClarIssburg.
One Of the most Interesting por-
tons or the Judges speech was that
in which he told OF the Clarksburg
of his boyhood days-the quiet,
sleepy village of good people dwell
Ing together in happiness and con-
tentment, before the iron horse came
over the mountain sides from the east
and before the industrial and COM
mercinl demands of the country had
grown out of their infancy. His de-
scription of the old town, its people,
their customs, the limitations to
which they were restricted and their
characteristics was series of word
pictures that held the rapt attention
of every one in the hall.
OF the needs of the city for the at
tainment of the much desired Great
er Clarksburg, Judge Goff said one
of the most important IS the need of
pure water in abundant quantity. To
the south of us, not many miles dis
tant, there Is a fine, large supply of
clear, pure water; to bring 1t to
Clarksburg requires only an outlay
trltling when compared to its rela-
tive value to the city and its chances
of development. If the ancients
thousands of years ago could pro-
vide themselves with pure water I'M
der the disadvantages they had, GER
tainly we can do 1t.
The Virginia Debt Suit.
Equal and uniform taxation is also
an important factor in the .city's
growth, said Judge Goff, and it is a
duty of the citizen to see that 1t
obtains. Here the speaker briefly re-
ferred to the Virginia debt suit now
pending in the Supreme Court of the
United States, and said that every
citizen of the State should put forth
efforts to have the States interests
in this suit properly cared for. Be-
fore the formation of the State of
West Virginia. said Judge Goff, the
convention which restored the gov
ernment of the State of Virginia pro-
mulgated an ordinance, providing for
the formation of new state out OF
a portion of the old and declaring
that the new State ''shall take upon
itself Just proportion of the public
debt of the commonwealth of Vir-
glnia, prior to the first day of jan
uary, 1861, to be ascertained by
charging to it all the state expendi-
lures within the limits thereof. and
a just proportion of the ordinary ex-
penses of the state government since
any part OF the said debt was con-
tracted and deducting therefrom all
the moneys paid into the treasury OF
the commonwealth from the counties
included within the said new state
during said period"
A Political Matter.
In subsequent litigation over the
jurisdiction of the counties of Berk-
eley and Jefferson, this ordinance was
by the United States su-
preme court as valid. If 1t was SO
recognized in that instance, 1t follows
that 1t win be also recognized in the
case of the Virginia debt.
ANY overture for settlement of the
debt or the amounts of payment be-
tween the two states. therefore, would
not be matter for the Judiciary to