Year: 1867

. ,s,.rcd la the state senate, marchs trot,


an the General Railroad Law.


Mr. WALLACE said:


Mr. Speaker this subject is so i'm


brtapt in its bearings upon the future


,be Commonwealth and so directly


.escts my immediate constituents,


I'm | deem it my duty TO place upon


cord nv reasons for the several votes


N have given and shall give upon the


Ii is an admitted fact that ma


HIN of the people of Pennsylvania


u favorable to the passage ofa "free"


general" railroad law. Both can


;dates for orGubernatorial honors at the


te election placed themselves upon


scord in its favor. Both the incom-


10 and outgoing Governor recon-


nended it. The Committee on Rail
toads of this body recognized this fact
Ind reports favorably the bill before
4. which is entitled IAN act TO author


he the formation of railway compan-


es." cannot but regret that the
committee has not given us a more
+ liberal bill it is better than none, but
h is by no means what it should be.
Its title expresses what il is, but / fear
the authority given is so defective in
is details, so restrictive in its essen.
,al features, that it can never be q
'generaP' railroad law. Deficient as
h is, restricted as are its details, il
+ seems our plain duty to accept from
the committee and the majority OF
. this body bill which they have per.
sistently refused to permit us to amend.
II If we refuse to accept this, our work
must be recommended at the bottom,
whilst, if We accept our inevitable fate
Ind point out the defects in the bill,
concentrate public opinion upon them,
.4torce them into the canvass before the
people and thus compel candidates for
plaee to commit themselves in favor
f Of their correction, we shall be enabled
10 amend and reform the law in future
sessions. We dare not assume that
4 the House will refuse to amend the
A bill as the Senate has, and it becomes
\ our duty to send it to them in as good
a form as we can. Who will under.
take to say that, in placing upon the
statute books law recognizing the
free railroad system as part of our
policy, we are gaining nothing? 1t
is, in reality, a victory over the oppo-
nents of this system that we hay c
thus wrung from them. They reluct-
antly yield, yet yield they do, and we
compel them to place upon record
their solemn admission that a free
railroad system is, and ought to be,
the policy of Pennsylvania. This is
the great, leading, fundamental idea
in the bill, and its details will be form.
ed and shaped TO mould and carry out
the wishes of the people thus recog-
nized. We may fail to aid in shaping
those details, but our successors will
find it an imperative duty. Entertain.
ing these views, and having been, in
ali its stages, and during my entire
legislative career, an advocate of the
adoption of this system, / cannot now
refuse TO vote for the bill because
have failed to amend it as my judg.
ment dictated, and my earnest efforts
have demonstrated, was my wish.


Upon the consideration of the bill
in committee of the whole, it seemed
as though amendments were to be per-
mitted upon repeated divisions of the
committee, the friends of a liberal pol.
icy were successful, and valuable ad-
ditions were engrafted upon the bill
Whether this was because the yeas
and nays could not be called, or for
what reason it occurred, cannot say,
but the tactics were changed, and
upon test vote, the committee of the
whole arose and were refused leave to
sit again. The affect of this vote was
to cut of all the amendments that had
been made, and allow the bill to come
up on second reading precisely as il
had been reported from the Railroad
Committee. 1t is a significant fact
that all of the Senators who voted for
that motion have since been found
voting steadily against amendment.


The first section of the bill author.
ICES tho creation of q railway corpora
ton of not less than nine persons, and
fix as the amount of capital stock at
not less than fifteen thousand dollars
per mile. 1t was proposed to reduce
this to ten thousand dollars by the
friends of the more liberal policy.


The tenth section of the bill author
ICES the mortgage of the railway to an
amount not exceeding twenty thou.
sand dollars, and it seems fair to sup.
pose that in localities in which rail
roads can be constructed for ten thou.
sand dollars per mile, those who invest
their money, and sink it in grading
and bridging, should be permitted to
execute mortgage on the road for
superstructure aud equipment. There
are many portions Of the Common
wealth in which this amount is fully
adequate to these purposes, and il
seems like imposing unnecessary
weight to compel the subscription Of
one.third more, with its accompanying
addition of taxation. Surely this pol.
icy is not liberal; it is the very reverse.


The second section provides that
before the certificate OF incorporation
shall be issued, at least ten thousand
dollars per mile shall be subscribed in
good faith, and ten per centum there
on paid in. We moved TO strike out
ten thousand dollars and insert -four
thousand, and again we're voted down
by the friends Of the reported bill.
Under ourprescnt railroad law of lS49i
and its supplement, assuming fifteen
thousand dollars per mile to be the