ll
" THE PUBLIC GOOD SHOULD EVER BE PREFERRE TO PRIVATE ADVANTAGE."
rOLME 4.
Ljncolnton, North Carolina, Saturday Morning, December 16. 1848.
iX UMBER 41,
-m m i w w
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY, BY
' THOMAS J. 1UCCL.ES.
Therms. Two dollars pci annum, payable
in advance; $2 50 if payment be delayed 3
tnjnths.: A discount to clubs of 3 or'more.
Advertisements will be conspicuously insert
ed, at $1 pet square ( 14 lines) for the first, and
25 cents for each subsequent insertion.
Gov. Graham's JTlessajje.
Concluded.
The operations of the Raleigh and
Gaston Hal road for the past two year
will be fully detailed in the Report of the
Board ot Commisioners. The stale
tnentel its Treasurer, published in the
newspapers, in analogy to the Report
of the Comotrollei, on the Public Fi
nances, for the year ending the 1st of
November 1847 showed tts earnings
to have been $68,902 57 and disburse
ments $65,457 93. For the following
x year, ending November 1st, 1848, the
earnings were about 857,000 and dis-
bursements (exclusive of extraordinary
repairs, rendered necessary by a confla
gration, which destroyed the principal
building of the Road at Raleigh.) $52,
479 72. Add to this the amount of Mese
repairs, viz. $28,791 93 and the sum
total of disbursements will be 81,271
05. On the night ot the 25ih ot Feb
ruary last, the machine shop and engine
house at the depot in Raleigh with ail
their contents of a combustible nature
having been destroyed by fire, and the
lour best locomotives ol ihe road, as
well as the stationary steam engine be
ing seriously endamaged, it became
necessary to take unmediaie steps to le
pair the injury or 'o p r;mt the Railroad
tviih us appendages to go to destruction.
Finding no power adequate to the exig
ency conferred on the commissioners! of
the road, I convened the Council otSiuie,
and submitted to them the alternatives
ofeither convoking the Legislature, spe
cial Session, to provide the needful
means, or of mortgaging the Railroad
properly for the sum of 825,000 (the
amount ol loss and damage occasioned
by the fire, as estimated by itsPresideni)
by vmue of the power conferred on the
. Governor and council, to make sale of
the same. They advised the adoption
ot the latter, and an arrangement was
made with tfie Rank of the Siate of N.
. Carolina, to advance the sum required,
at such times as they might be called
for by the progress ol the repairs, on
bonds of the States, reciting on their face
the consideration and a deed in trust on
the Railroad ami its appendant property,
to secure their payment. Accordingly,
bonds dated in April, May, and July hist,
amounting in the whole to $25,000 all
payable the 1st of January next, were
iinnn:i:iloi! nrirl j rlnprl 111 liust n vpr n !
provision is therefore
to take up these bonds. JJestgning to
place the whole subject under the con
trol of the Representatives of the people
at the earliest convienent day, I did not
propose any longer term of credit. ll
this however be desirable, it doubtless
can be easily effected, by issuing Siate
lionds a', live years for an equal sum
and requiring the Railroad, if retained
by the estate, to pay the interest as it
may accrue and gradually to extinguish
the principal.
What course shall be adopted by the
State m retamingordisposingof thisRoad
yet remains a question of great interest.
Such has been the demand for repairs
snd improvements that it has yielded no
dividends to the Treasury for ihe last
two years. Two new Locomotives
however have been purchased at a cost
of more than $7,0U0 each, and the oth
er Engines refitted (except one wholly
ruined by the fire before referred lo) so
that the motive power of the estab
lishment is in better condition than at
any time heretofore. New and supe
rior Iron has been also purchased, and
laid down, for near ten miles from Gas
ton Southward, and the whole super
structure of the Road has been renewed
for that distance. Very extensive re
newals have also been made in the wood
work of the line generally. Hut the
process oi repairing is now carried on
under great disadvantage, for want of
Iron to relay a considerable part ol the
track, and the present earnings of the
road are insufficient to procure it. The
Northern half of the hue, over which
the heaviest trains pas9, was originally
laid with thin Iron, which is much bro
ken, and occasions a great waste of labor,
in temporarily refiiting wi;n fragments,
that are soon to be broken again, as
well as constant damage to the Engines
. and Cars from the severe wear and tear
to which it subjects them. A prudent
economy often consists in a liberal ex
.penditure. Any proprietor of this work,
would find it his true interest to put it
in complete repair, even if it were nec
essary to give lien on the property to
i- raise the means. If therelore the road
shall not be transferred to other hands
during your sitting, it is obviously ex
pedient and proper to purchase immedi
ately Iron Railing sufficient to refit it for
at least thirty miles. Fifty thousand dol
lars expended for this purpose might en
able the State to receive as profits some
fifteen, twenty, or twenty-five thousand
of the fifty-five to seventy thousand, the
present income of the road, a large part
of which is now spent on the ineffectual
reparation above described. Its opera
lions may go on, as at present without
such aid, but they afford no prospect of
profit. Ifa loan be contracted for this
object on liberal time, there can be little
doubt of the ability of the road to pay it
with interest. And in the event of a sale,
it would enhance the price of the whole
property by an amount certainly equal
to the money thus laid out.
It would no doubt be preferable to
convert this property into funds, for the
relief of the Treasury, rather than to
make any ethe disposition of if. To
expose il M aucikM however, would be
to sacrifice it from the magnitude of the
interest end the facility with which bid
ders could combine their capital and put
down competition. After a committee
of your body shall have made a thorough
investigation of the affairs of the road,
and to that end shall have examined on
oath its officers and head-workmen, it
deemed necessary, three modes of dis
posing of it will, as 1 conceive, present
themselves, to wit : l3t, A re-sale to
the former stockholders by compromise
of the suits now i.end;ng,il suitable terms
be 'heied. 2nd. To retain it as a per
manent propertv of Me Slate nfiar re-
pairing it in the best manner. 3rd. To
i.nuo it with another work, through ihe
interior of the State w h eli will he more
particularly noticed in trie sequel. The
U ilmtngton and Raleigh Railroad Com
pany have regularly paid the interest on
all their debts, anil effected considerable
improvement on iheir Road with ihe
income of the last two years. A min
ute statement of the condition of their
affairs will accompany the Report of the
Board of Internal Improvements. I am
gratified to bserye ;t very handsome ad"
dition to their receipts, in the items of
freight and way travel, showing that the
local accommodation from this work is
becoming much extended. They , will,
I piesume, be unable to pay off the
principal of their bi nds, guarantied by
the State, find amounting to 850,000,
which will become due the 1st ot Janu
dry next. Rut so long as they contir.
ue to meet ihe accruing interest with
their accustomed punctuality, there can
he no objection to extending to them ihe
Slate's credit, upon the same terms as
heretofore or even for a longer period.
In liiirL'fH' iiwr Miir (Prrrllorv ll rl li an
negotiated and a deed ,n tiust executed. the 'presDeril irucrest and wants ol
the people, 1 am more than ever inr
pressed with our destitution of facilities
for cheap and speedy transportation.
!n this regard, however unpleasant may
be the admission, I am forced to the con
viction, that we labor under grea'er dis
advantages than any State in the Union.
And we never can be equal competitors
with their citizens in our Agriculture,
the predominetit pursuit among us, un
til these disadvantages are in a great de
gree overcome. The man who is obli
ged to transport in waggons over no bei
ter roads than ours, a distance varying
from sixty to two hundred and fifty
miles, at the speed of twenty-five miles
per day, can no more contend for profits
with him who has the advantage ot Uail
roads or good navigation, than can the
Spinning Wheel with the Cotton Mill.
Had we ever been in a more lavorablc
situation in this respect, aud had the
impediments which now beset us been
imposed by human power, no sacrifice
would be esteemed too great to effect oui
deliverance and restore our prosperity.
It is therefore a theme lor the profound-
est consideration of those enjoying the
confidence of a constituency thus silua
ted.and intending to requite it by a lauh
ful devotion in their interests, what can
be done, or ought to be undertaken, to
remove these gricvannes and place their
industry and labor on an equal footing
with those ot tfieir fellow citizens in o
ther States? It must be admitted, that
from Geographical causes, the question
was originally one rather difficult of
solution. Aud our lorar.er euterpnzes
in Internal Improvement, having failed
from causes not necessary to be now
commented on, the Siale has of late years
taken no action in constructing works
of mis kind, and many good citizens ap
pear to have concluded, that further el
torts were vain, as our doom to privation
in this particular was nxed (ate. Mean
while other Stales have pushed forward
their improvements, (some of them with
a rash and extravagant hand, it is true
but in the main with the most beneficial
results,) overcoming obstacles far grea
ter than any which impedes us, and ob
taining lor themselves, still greater ad
vantages over us in the competitions of
the market. We are therefore impelled
not only by all the more obvious con
siderations which appealed to us in for
mer times but by a reasonable self de
fence, to abandon further hesitation and
adopt at once a system of improvement,
commensurate with the' wants and inter
est of the State. Too much should not
be undertaken at once, but what may
be attempted, should be thorougly com
pleted. As the commencement of such
a system, and a basis, on which other
works may be engrafted, to any desira
ble extent, as our means may from time
to time permit, a Railroad from Raleigh
to Charlotte by way of Salisbury, an
pears to mo of the first moment. This
scheme lias not been much considered
heretofore, and derives much of its inv
poriance from a kindred work, now in
progress from Charlotte to Columbia,
South Carolina. Already from Raleigh
Norihward continuous lines ot Railroad
and Steamboat transportation stretch
through the towns of Virginia and the
great cities of the North, to Portland in
Maine, and Buffalo on Lake Erie
Similar works also exist, or aie in pto
gress, with a certainty of completion in
the course of a year or two, extending
from Charlotte Southward through Co"
lumbia io Charleston : and again from
the former of these through Augusta,
aud the interior ol Georgia, and Ten'
nessee to Nashville, as well as to the
Mississippi, at Memphis, and to New
Orleans, by way ol Montgomery and
Mobile. Through a part ot North Car
olina alone, a link is wanting, to com
pleie liie grand chain of communication,
from one extremity ol our Country to
the other, and to lurnish to the whole ua
lion those facilities oi inleicouise which
the inhabitants Nui th and Suuih of us,
eniov in iheir several sections. Ihe
connexion proposed therelore being us
it were a budge over a space now im
passible by steam cars, having at either
end the great highways ol the North
and South, with their numerous branch
es for a thousand miles in bo;h directions,
promises a reasonable renumeration for
the outlay of its construction, from
"through" transportation : ai d in a
miliary and other points ot view, would
be of great national advantage. Had
nature supplied us with navigable rivers
like the Mississippi, flowing from Rnl
eigh and Charlotte, respectively, to N.
York and New Orleans, or even to
Charleston, all would at once perceive
the benefit of the junction of the two,
through ihe interior of the Slate, as
clearly as did the genius of Clinton that
arising from the union of the Hudson
with the great Lakes. The parallel
may not be yet perfect in the present
state of Railroad conveyances, Out is
destined to be so at no distant day.
Uy the foregoing are merely induce
ments to undertake this work. It is
commended to us a great North Caro
lina improvement, appealing to our in
terest and State pride, by arguments
which it were almost criminal to over
look. 1st. It would open to the mar
ket of the world un extensive region of
the Slate, reaching from the Capitol al
most to the blue Ktdge, of great lertih-
State, and to an increase of the prospe
rity of our market towns. Let them
however not despair. I:s advantages;
will be afforded to them in due season, j
After the completion of the main track,
a branch to Fayetteville or other point
on the navigable water of the Cape Fear
River, will be of easy accomplishment.
Its extension from Raleigh to Goldsbo
ro would be invited by the connexion ,
thus to be formed, between Wilmington
and the upper Country, and eventually
it might realize that scheme of a central
Railroad consecrated by the patriotic
labors of Caldwell, in an extension from
Goldsboro' to beaufort. JVheiher there
fore we regard it as a single work, or as
the groundwork of an extensive plan,
the Road from Raleigh to Charlotte ap
pears to be the important improvement
which should first engage our attention
and our energies. And I accordingly
recommend it to the patronage of the
Legislature, to the amount ot one half,
or at least too filths ol the capital, ne
cessary lor its construction. The dis
tance is about one hundred and sixty
miles by the mail route, and the cost of
the Road and equipments over such
route as may be selected would proba
bly not exceed $1,600,000- As an in
ducement to aid this scheme, it presents
an opportunity for disposing of the Ral
eigh and Gaston Road, as has been ins
timated in the preceding remarks, on
that topic. A Company might be or
gamzed to embrace the entire line from
Gaston to Charlotte, and the Road now
owned by the State transferred to them
at a fair valuation in pajn.ent of her
subscription for stock. Of the particu
lars of such an arrangement if favored
by ihe Legislature, no delineation is
here requwed. 1 have already treated
ot tins subject with more minuteness
than may be appropriate, in an address
of this kind, because it has as yet at
tracted but little of the public attention,
aud from a deep impression of its uliility
in alleviating the condition of our indus
try and reviving the waning fortunes
of our countrymen while it gives au
assured hope of profit on the capital in
vested. 1 have remarked wi'h much satisfac
tion that some enterpnzing persons a
mong our fellow citizens, have com
menccd the Navigation of Neuse and
Tar rivers with steamboats of a light
class, and that a spirit is awakened a
mong the people in the upper section of
the Cape Fear to open ihat river for nav
igation to or above the confluence of its
main branches. Every successful effort
at objects ot this nature is a public bene
fit, and deserves the fostering aid of the
Legislature.
ll has not been thought expedient to
exercise the power conferred on ihe
Hoard of Internal Improvement by the
last General assembly to sell the Club
Fort aud Harlow's Canal, and it expired
by limitation with the opening ol your
Session.
j (the severest infliction of Heaven on our
race) are curable as those of the body
and most enlightened Stales have estah
lished hospitals where the poor thus af
fjicted are watched over during the e
clipse of the understanding and supplied
with needful remedies. A distinguished
person of the gentler sex who has devo
ted much of her life to ihe pious duty
of pleading the cause of the Lunatic, be
lore States and communities, have re.
cently traversed a considerable part of
this State, in search of information
respecting these unlortunates among u?,
and will prcpubfy ask leave to present
their case to you, at an early day. 1
cannot too earnestly commend l lie cause
hself, or ho disinterested benevoieuce
of its advu'. ale.
Pursuant to ao act of the last Legisla
ture, tor (ne oale ot certain Cherokee
Lauds, which had been surrendered to
the State, by the former purchasers, a
Board of commissioners was constituted
who placed valuations on the several
tracts, in conformity with the law, and
they were exposed lot sale by pre-emption
and otherwise, on the terms there
in prescribed. One hundred and twen
ty-seveu tracts comprehending 20,528
acres, besides two town lots, were ap
propriated by pre-emptions at the ag
gregate price of $30,7 03 33, the same
lands having been sold al the former
sale for $98,690 4G, and twenty thrta
tracts embracing 2752 acres were dis
posed ol at the impioved valuations, for
$2,229 33, these having brought at the
tirsi sale $5,677 33. One fourth of
the purchase money was required to be
paid down, and the residue was secured
in four equal annual instalments. The
Agent ot the Stale reports thirty-six
tracts of surrendered land comprizing
4939 acres, valued now ai $7033 47,and
formerly sold for $11,889 24, as re
maining unsold in either mode. The
lime allowed for the private 6dles, hav
ing only expired in August last, 1 have
not appointed a public sale of the resi
due authorized by the act. It seems to
me, however, expedient to make a gen
eral sale not only ot ihis residue, but ol
all the other surveyed lands in ih u re
gion, whether acquired under ihe trea
ties of 1817. 1819 or 1835, for cash,
aud that those uusurveyed ohould cither
be surveyed and disposed oi in a like
manner or be opened to entry, as other
public lands. Tub policy of holding
them back for higher prices, has been
tried long enough to prove it unwise.
During its last winter term, the Su
preme Court was deprived by death
of the llonoiatle Joseph J Daniel, an
upright, useful and learned Judge, who
had administered justice acceptably
liom our Bench for more than thirty
ears. To fih ihe vacancy iheiehy oc
casuncd, a temporary Commission wag
granted, witti ihe advice ot the Council
of State, to tne Honorable William 11.
Bailie, oi the Superior Court bench.
ty and capacity ot indefinite improve
merit, by reason ol itsAgricultural, Min
eral and Manufacturing resources: con
taining in the Counties within twenty
five miles of the most direct route, more
than 230,000 souls: and within titty
miles, more than one half of our whole
population, who are far removed from
places ol trade anc dependent entirely
on the common waggon and common
road for all tneir transportation. The
occasioti will not permit me to dwell on
its numberless benefits in this regard,
which will readily occur to any one who
looks on the Map of the State with the
eye of a statesman and patrio'. 2nd.
ll wouid add incalculably, to the bu&i
ness and value of one at least, (and ulti
maiely ol both,)of our present Railroads-,
in which the Stale has so deep an inter
est, and make them productive Stocks,
3rd. It would unite the middle and
eastern with the western section of the
State, in a domestic trade, and exchange
of productions loo cumbersome for the
present mode ot conveyance, besides fa
cilitating travel for health, and social in
leicourse. 4ih By running over the
most practicable route from Raleigh to
Salisbury, and thence turning southwest
ward to Cnarlotie, it wouid bisect the
Slate for more than a hundred miles,
bringing the most remote on eiiner.fcide
within fifty miles of the Railroad, and
would be a favorable location for being
extended stil farther west, from the'for
mer places, and to connect advanta
geously by means otTurnpike roads with
all the Northwestern part ot our tern
toi y.
Whilst it would confer these benefits
on the mierior country, now depressed
aud partially excluded from all profita
ble commerce, the objection has not
been overlooked that u does not point
immediately to the seaboard of our own
And to supply the vacancy thus made,
I beg again to impress on jour atlen j a like commission, wuh ihe advice ot the
Council, was granted toAugusts IWoore,
Esq, o' Edenton. The Olhee of Aiior
uey Ueueral, also becoming vacant, by
resignation ot Hie Honorable Ed m aid
Stanly, ui May lasi, his place was in
like manner temporal y supplied by com
missioning Bariholemew F. Moore,
Esq. ot Halifax. On you will devolvo
Mo duty oi making permanent appoint
ments to Muse several Oliices.
1 repeal th rccoiiiineijdVion made
to the Ust General Assembly, as con
firmed by suo&eqeuni redaction and ob
servation, thai ail jurisdiction over
Pleas, in ihe County Courts be abol
ished, and ttial provision be made lor
tnree terms ol tne Superior (Jouit per
year in cacti County. i ne ctijiie m
urged upon u by u.e muni. old reasons:
1st mat it would conduce a moie cuircct
dud speedy administration ot Justice.
2nd. ll wouid impose a less amount of
ihe i cost on Mo pailics cast in legal cumiu
il is I vcisies, 3id. 11 would save time to
loose Called out io allend Court by te
duciiig the number ol teims irum s.x to
three ;u eacii yen. 4;n. It would effect
t still g i tale i saving io tne County lx
es, oy di-pensiog nun on halt oi the
ciiuna now in id'j lo pty .luiors, be-
5ui. it hus been
tion the indispensable necessity ofimpro
ving our publtcRodds. It is little credita
ble to.our enterpnzo and intelligence, that
although we are considerable taxed, in
the frequent calls on oui labor for this
object, our method for maintaining the
public highways has made no advance
beyond that existing in England in the
time of Phillip and Mary, if Commis
sioners notexceedinglwu ineachCounty,
were elected by the County Courts with
authority to inspect tho chief public
riads, and lay them off on the most fa
vorable ground, and vre clothed with
authority to supervise and direct the
the hands assembled to work them,
it would doubtless, tend much to iheir
improvement. These Courts should
also be invested with power to nrike ap
propriations from the Coumy funds to
alter and improve the most difficult
parts, and to make plank roaas where
necessary and practicable, with
means at their comm uid. Indeed
urged upon your inquiry, whether tne
recent improvement, of ihe plank road,
may not be introduced into extensive
use in this State. The simplicity oi
their construction, involving ht'ie or no
exnense for entrineerins, ihe ubuudunce ! co
and cheapness of timber, and '.heir adiin- tuei expenses.
lion to the sand aud sw amp of the lower, j ""'ed in otti r S.ates, and found to re
and the clay soil ol the uppei Country, j ahzj the moat ai:gume expectation.
recommend them to us with much force, i i i e cost oi tne add.iion ol uo more
A Geological fcurvey of ihe Stale is
more than ever demanded, in conse
quence ot frtsti discoveries of useful and
valuable mineral in new situations, and
the important results of like explorations
in other Stales.
We have been as yet without any
provision for the mehora ion of ihe condi
tion of our pauperLunatics. Those of the
poorer classes who have been visited
with the loss of reason, have been aban
doned to their fate, except in cases in
furicus sadness, in which they have
been committed to the common jails, as
disturbers of the Peace. It is now as
certained that these diseases ot mind,
Judges, watch lite alteration might re
q.nie, ould be u2 tiottung cumuaied lo
.ne iiiaiuuii'i:ce ui Me present sy fe
te n.
I he Report cf the President and Di
rectors ol Hie Liierary'Fund will ac
quaint ou wuii me present slate of Me
important interests committed to their
charge. The loan office iormeriy con
nected with this ioard, has been dis
continued by dcliver.ng over lo ihe .Pub
lic Treasurer the Bonds aud Judge
ments, against individuals, held by il as
directed by the last Legislature, on iris
executing the Bond of the State for the
Concluded on 4tA page.