VOL. IT. : v.-. TERMS. Tup. Noitii-Catiouna Times will be sent. to Sub- (rilu ra at Two .Dollar nhJ a half pet annum, if paiil in adyanee. Tlirrp Pollani will t-. charged, If -pti y m?nt is Waved six mimtlui. Tlu--TvttiiB will be in . !.(: -..j-. i . vaiitiui uuvitti tu'-ryg. ,. A1)VCSTISE1IETS. 7. '.-',;:' . For every Sixteen lines, or One l)oiInr fur thp first, aau 'TVtmtv-ltVf (Vats f.jr vach sidwmpient in- ...: ...,. l. I .'.-. .1... ..;h U i..J OV. v v . i v m, , ..'it fci-.fj;',i-l'least to tlinna who advertise bv he'ear" - ctuty of their Representatives.' Unless and until.; . . . ' . ', ., '' . '.' i something may be realized from a re-salo of .the ! 8rr Letters on business, and nil ( ommiirnetitimis , - . inlradd or ublicatiiw must" be addn-sscd to the. -or recovery- ag-unst its stockholders ; Tditor nnd ''pott paid ' ''j.nd hond'sinen, ojWmly reliance is 'Upon somo j ', M - ' hi',', i ,' , . u.i iiijnmi for an increase of the" Revenue, which j GOYEMQE'S MESSAGE. 3Tj' the- forwr.'iWc the Vrnrfal-' -' 1. The recurrence of the regular Session of the Loy ; pishitiire, after the lapse of two more years, de tnanils of us rehnvyed expressions of gratitude and praise to an All-bounteous Providence, for the nn- mero"H6manifeitation-ofhisbent'ficence With which j wo have been favored, ith rare exceptions, health has leen enjoyed among our population in an unusual decree.; the fruits of the earth have b.'cn yit-lded-in great abundance, not merely for the snpp.y ot all our wants, hut to relieve tlie distress- referred to, I recommend, that when the means in '. esofour famishing' brethren in "ther lands ; and i tho, Treasury, nre insiiiricicnt for these ends, the Mir common Country has been restored lo the bless- Treasurer be authorized to issue State Bonds rc ingofl'eacu. ; . jdeemible in ten years, to an amount equal to the The Regiment of Volunteers required for the i deficiency. It is also worthy of your attentive in xvar with Mexico. which was being levied at the j qiiiry, whether iike bqndi should not be at once is : last adjournment of the Legislature, was 'mustered j sued injieu 4 the debt of $00,000, du the Hank into-the service of the United States, and embark- j of ('ape Fear. To the State it is a ma'ter of in rd for the ten of war, nsearly as. practicable af- j difference, whether she shall have the loan from ter .their arrival at Sinithvilie. . . Ji.e.i.ng.nsMgned To "d,0 Rank, or from other 'cspitatists. Rut in a com tlie column oftho army corninandod by Mai. CfiiI. i muiiity where Ranking capital is -limited, and with Taylor, and reachhg their destination after thp j the freest uso of their means, the Ranks can af meinor.ihle di f-iit of the i-hemy at Bnena Vista, ; tord no greater accommodation, thairia required which oyerthrew.and disjiersed his forces in that j for the demands of business, it ,is. a serigils priva- quarler, they did not have the good fortune to par . ticipato in those victories which have so tigiijlly illustrated our arms. They bore, however, tin ir full share of the privations and hardships-incident to camp lifeand 'contributed mere than their due proportion of victims to a climate more dreadfnl than tho foe. Tlaopporiunliy heen aftbrded them to test their prowess in battle, I doubt not that, un der the discipline and lead of their gallant and ablo commander, they would have won laurels for them selves, and brought home honors for their country. Under the Resolutions of the lat session making appropriations to that end, I drew from the Trea sury, at sundry times from January till May, 1817, the sum of $11,230, for the use of the RegimentJ for the disbursement of which vouchers have been deposited in tho office of tho Comptroller of Public Accounts. . ., An act having been passed at the recent session of Congress to refund to the States any monies ad vanced for the comfort and transportation of thoir Volunteers, prior to being mustered into service, with interest on the same, I transmitted to the Se cretary of War an account of the advances jnst stated, as well as of the transportation of a part of the Regiment over the Raleigh and Gaston Rail road, on their way to the rendezvous, and desired its early adjustment. A strict construction having iieen placed on this act by the War Department, and proof being demanded which requires the vou chers of disbursement to be exhibited before its ac counting officers, ft was deemed best to postpone the further prosecution of the claim until they shall have undergone the investigation of your Commit tee of Finance. The abovo sum is exclusive of ari expenditure of $293 03, under a separate Resolution of the Oeneral Assembly to purchase Flags for the Re giment, which have becntturncd to the Office of . the Adjutant General, and arutubjcct to your dis position. . . ;( Tlie Fincal affairs of the State still continue to claim tlie first place in the consideration of tlie Le gislature. The detailed operations of the Treasu ry, since the lust session, will be found in the Re ports of tlie Public Treasurer sod Comptroller of Public Accounts. . While its resource have been sufficient to satisfy all just demands, and to uphold the public credit, it will be perceived that little f re grets ha been made in extinguishing the State debt; and, by making payments by means obtained on losii, we have only exchanged one creditor for another. , In my first message to the last General Assembly,! stated, in txknso, the various liabili ties of the Treasury,und traced the history of those ribing from endorsements for the Raleigh and Gaston Railroad Company. For a clear compre hension of the subject at present, it may be neces ssry to repast, that on accouat of her first surety- Ship for this Company, the State is responsible for the sum of $500,000, of which, the interest is to be paid semi-annually, nd the principal " tt such time after tho ,11 day of J .nuary I860, us the I-ffislature shall lierenftit appoint;" that the'sn drrtook a second re-irvmiHi'iMv for th: Company to the smount of fAfS.SCiOwltlt -interest payable in likunanner, ant the principal, in annual instal ments of $30,000 each from, 1845 till 1851 and that four.pf thw vistahiifiits buve bseii already j $i;6,.l30,83llatsik cents, on the one hundred dol !'rhrrj;!, so lb t tre r-main of this c!a of ar9 value, yield only $37,9J1 21, and why, out of I if t''i f. the s. f ?5l69,5Ci0. But to j ;t least 195,003 taxable pnlis in tlio State, more liflthf Tr' ii 'f, in wy:$ tiiesn iiHklnifi)U of ; ibau 30.00a yet erxp taxation altogether, Th principal, while sustaining the ordinary expenses ' of government, and thp heavy drafts for interest on the aggregate of both these classes of ilebt, there Inn been borrowed, from tho Bank of Cape Fear, within ihn last four years, the sum of $90,000, be sides tho loan from the Litcmryl'und, hereinafter .mentioned"' Such-aro our rcsponsibilitivs. A Tho scrupulous regard for the public honor, which ia justly' the pride of iiu Slate, requires them to he promptly im t. To prjvido for this in the moe burdensome to the people, in -tho appropriate I j shall furnish the means, of gradually curtailing, I the principal, while it keeps, down the interest. ; (The principal of tlie debt of 500 ,000. docs not j I press with any immediate. force' as we have alrea dy seen, and requires nothing at present but a pro vision for its interest. The Rank -of Capo Fear is also bound by its Charter to lend to the State,' at any time when called for, an amount not exceed- j inj; 50,000 and no stipulation, is made as to the time of payment. Tho residue, therefore, of .-sUou- 000, is the only portion, of the li-ibility, having a ; fixed and early day, for its liquidation. . To meet 1 I u.x." ...... . - ., the interest on the three descriptions of debt, and ; the principal as it may become due, of that lat , tion to commercial men to be without the facilities, w h ich would be furnished by the loan of this a- ninunt among them. Tho advantage of allow ing the new loan a eon s'denvhle time to run, (say ten years,) is that it would ensure its being taken immediately at par if not at a premium. If ! bmrever contrary to all true principles of Finance, to contract a loan without also providing not only for the interest, hut for the gradual redemption of the principal. If the foregoing suggestions be adopted, they will consolidate the Bank debt, and the resiuue of tlie smaller debt on account of the Railroad in a loan of $250,500, redeemable in ten years. And if the present Legislature shall provide for the extin guishment of this amount of the public obligations within that period, and the punctual payment of interest on the w hole, thej will have accomplish ed as much, as may be at present needful, leaving lo their successors, the adoption of measures for tho repayment of the debt of $500,000 " at any time after the 1st day of January, 1800," as orig inally stipulated. This arrangemeut will require a sinking fund of about 25,000 annually for the redemption of the principal, besides about $ 15,000, for interest. The latter sum, however, will grad ually fall to $30,000 as the debt is diminished. In other words, it will require $70,000 or thereabouts to be annually applied to the public debt, over and above the ordinary expenses of Government, now averaging about a like sum, making the whole a- mount wanted for each year $1 10,000. In the Message to the last legislature already referred to, onr Revenue Sybtcm was reviewed with reference to the demands on the Treasury, and an argument was submitted to demonstrate, that the State annually lost seven or eight thous and dollars, from failures, to enlist lands for taxa tion, whereby they bad escaped their contingent entirely cr from under valuation, by means of which, it had been avoided in pr j : and that pro bably an equal sum was lost in the l'oll tax from a like criminal negligence, in rendering lists ol taxable persons. Accordingly, the Act of the last Setsion directed a new assessment, and a more vigilant supervision of the enlistment of lands. The result has been, that the land Revenue of 1817, collected under tlie new Law, has exceeded that of 181G, under tho old, by the sum of $5, 91102. A table attached to 'the Report of the Public Treasurer will show that the total number of acres taxed in 1816 was 22,3G3i3, and that in 1317 it rose to 21,359,075, and that the.-' aggre gate valuation of land and own property in 1810, was 55.254,191, and that in 18-17 it grew to $66,430,8i:i. With these material additions in quantity and valuation, the amount of taxes re ceived from real estate, is yet lower by two or three thousand dollars, than ought to bo obtained at tlie present rut. There has been, also, su increase in tlie year of $1561 78 in the poll tax. It ap pears ii'iw to be collected (on 173,1 19 persons, a gainst 165,310 in tho previous year. Iain yot satisfied, hoa-ever, from the statistics embodied, in niy former Message, that even this number falls short, by at least 30,000 of the whole taxable pop ulation of the State. It therefore will ctll for vour investigation, why a valuation en land of RALEIGH, FRIDAY, important addition In the revenue on real property and polls of near $7,300 by reason of the mea sures adopted tit the last Session, has been the pro duet of no new imposition on our constituents, hut tho mere fonseqiicnce of a fair and equal contri bution to those formerly existing. By a still closer scrutiny of the subject, especially in; the .depart' client of the l'oll tax, 1 apprehend that ;. plan may be devised to obtain a sl.ll further increment of j .(5,000, from .tho mime souVcea at existing .hi tea. j Tint with all the aid derivable from such tiica- sures, the Treasury will need additional tneans'to redjice our liabilities as proposed above.. Thc.Rev - , , , ' enup. collected, the present year, from allsources, amounts to $90,004 69. 1'y correcting the deli- cienceR just now. exposed- it may he raised to ex-,; ceed $100,000, leaving a deficit of about i'i,t.'03, j to be supplied from other resources. Of this it 5 may be-reasonably '. calciibtcd, "'that'.' 1 '-..CM :r1'.': year may be derived) 'from Collectii. ns en Cherokee bonds transferred to the Treatury, from the fund ; and engine house at tho depot in itali igh, with for Intemal Improvement, utider an Act of the last : all their contents of a combustible; nature, hav Ceneral Assembly; If two cents Le added cn the : lug been destroyed by fire, and the four best loco hundred i'.olhiM value of real estate, as was the motives of the hiad,nsvell as the stationary steam law prior to i'8'i.l, and six cents, on the poll,: they .j engine, being serioUhly;eiidamaged,i it became n?- ..would yield enough with the ciairn on the War department, before mentioned, and the deb! secured hy uiortiragc on the Wtldon Toll Rridge to the Board of Internal Improvement,- which is not yet j collected, to ma Ke up tlie resiuue. it is uowever ., ., -i , .. the peculiar province of the Legislature, to devise i tho ways and means intuitu all onr engagements, and preserve the public. faith. Anil ill suggesting those just named, 'which' are simple, usual and road property o; the sum of $25,000,.(thc amount this regard, however unpleasant may be the ad cortaiiily reliable, I def'.ro to be understood as cn- . of loss a n-.l damage occasioned ljy the fire, as es- j mission, I am forced to the conviction, that we la tertaining no preference for them, above any oth- j tiinated by its President.) by virtue of the power i.bor utider greater disadvantages than any State in ers, which the w isdom of the General Assembly ; conferred on the Governor and Council to make a j the I'nion : And that wo never can be equal ccm shull approve. The duty of the I'xecutive is per- ; sale of the same They advised the adoption of ! pctitors with their citizens in our Agric-ilturn, ti e formed in presenting, w ith fr.inkr.esi the necesfi- ' the latter, and an arrangement was made w ith the I predominant pursuit among us, until these disadr ties of tlie Treasury, leaving the. manner -end-'j Rank of the State -of North . Carolina, to advance ' vantages are in a great .degree overcome. The time of relief to the proper Constitutional depart- , the'surri required, at such times as they might lie man -who is obliged to transport in wagons over no merit of the Government. . It U ef moinf-nt how- j c.i'hd for by the progress ol tlie repairs, On bonds"! better roads than ours, a distance varying from ever that measures should be taken' in due season , of the St ile, reciting on their face the considr-ra- sixty to two hundred and fifty miles, at the speed to liquidate by degrees the Slab's liabilities, and i tion, and a deeif of "trust on. the Railroad and its !. of twenty-five miles per. day, can no more contend the process herein r?coiiin.f!u.ed is not mow spee- f dy than a wise policy demands.' If additional re sources shall be realized from a sale of tlio Rail road or recoveries in tlie suits against the stock holders, ihey will come opportunely in furtherance of tho measure for reduction now proposed, but the expectation of them dc"s not justify its post- j ponement at the present Session. , I sentatives of the people at the. earliest convenient. , You will doubtless ubscrve in the Reports ot j day, I did not propose any longer term of credit, the Comptroller, that there is no statement, of any j If this, however, be desirable, it doubtless ran be tax, received on the succession to estates,real and j easily efi'ectcd by issuing State bonds at five years, personal, of deceased persons, by others than line- j for an equal sum, add requiring the. Railroad, if ral descendants, which was imposed by an act of j retained by tho State, to pay the interest as it may last ssion. Whether the ulifriiitfulness of this accrue, and gradually to extinguish the principal, source of revenue thus far, has been owing to the j What course shall lie adopted by the State in re failure to prescribe any specific lime for its Jiay-j lation to retaining or disposing of this Road yet re ment to the clerks and for its being accounted for mainsa a question of great interest. Such has by them, or to other causes, is a qutstion for your investigation. f that it has yicli'eu no ilividends to the treasury for Agreeably to the Instructions of the Act of tho ; the last two years. Two new. . Locomotives have, last Session, I caused an Information in the na- j however, been purchisei at a cost of more than ture of a Bill of Equity to he instituted in the pro- j $7,000 each, and the other Engines refitted, (ex per Court of Wake. .County, against -the slock- eept one wholly ruined by the fire referred to;) so holders -end other obligors of tho Raleigh and Gas- ton Railroad Compaiiy, to recover the indemnity stipulated In the event of any loss lo the State, by reason of her suretyships for that Company. The great number of parties defendant and tho changes of parties by transfers of interest, and by deaths, have delifycd the progress of the cause to final de cision. And as it embraces the main subject of controversy between the State and any of the de fendants, the counsel for the State have not press ed for trial the actions af Law against some of them, which had been previously pending. My opinion ol the legal responsibilities of these parlies, was presented at some length in the mes sage of 1846, and remains unchanged. In consid eration however, of the circumstances of their ease, I am led to the conclusion that it is a proper subject for adjustment by compromise, snd that lib eral terms should lie allowed by the State. The transaction which occasioned it has been truly un fortunate for both parties. While on tho one hand it has imposed a burthen on the Treasury, which is heavily felt, on the other the whole capital sloes of (700,000) subscribed and paid in has been lost to the individual contributors and tho proporty in tho Road which it went to construct has been pur chased in by the Slate, and affords the accommo dation to the pu'.lic which was the chief induce ment with the Legislature in authorizing its con struction. If in addition to the lows of the stock already sustained, they shall lie subjected to an e qnal recovery on the responsibilities subsequently contracted on account of the Road, it will be a double grievance which many (I apprehend) will be unable to bear. A portion of tbem bave no doubt sufficient means to meet it without material injury. Rut the larger number, among whom arc widows, orphans, clergymen, mechanics, planters with large families and moderate estates, have heretofore felt the deprivation of the means invest ed in this Road, as a calamity, and cannot suffer an exaction of a like amount now without ruin. I submit these observations (becoming, as 1 think, the candor and impartiality of a Chief Magistrate! with the luss reserve from an abseneo of all inter est at any time in litis work, and of connexion with any of the persons concerned which could occa sion sny improper bias. What may be fitting terms of accommodation, fan only bo deUr.uined DECEMBER 1, 13 IS. Ky tho Legislature, and can bo more readily nego- j tiated by a conference of those interested with a committee of your body, than in any other mode, j of disposing of it will, as I conceive, present. them The operations of the Raleigh and Gaston Rail- j selves ,lo wit : 1st. A re-sale to the former stock road for the past two years, will be fully dvfaileij holders, by compromise of the suits now pending, in the Report of the Board of Commissioners. The I if suitable terms be offered. 3d. To retain it as a statement of its Treasurer, published in the news- permanent property of the State, after repairing it pajicrs, in analogy to the Report of the Comptroll- in the best manner. 2d,;' To unite it with anoth- er on the Public J ina-nces, for the year ending 1! Nov.. 1847, showed its earnings to have been 63,.-'will W2 .j7...ahd disbursement 8fi5,.'5" ill For the j following year; .ending Nov. sf, IS I8rthe earnings , were. $57,000, nnd dislmrsum nts (exclusive of , , , .extraordinary repairs, rendered necessary by a i conflagration which 'destroyed the principal build-. -ings--.tif the. Road; at Raleigh,) 852,47!)' 72.?' Add to this tho amount of these repairs viz. S2?,7J1 M.'.an) (ha su:n total of disburse- B',f'nt , ViH'. hn ,!S;81.271 65. ih tue night - of Iho . 25th of .Fetiniary l:i.f, tlio inachino shop eessary to take immediate steps to repair the inju ry, or to peniiil t'ne Railroad, with its appendages, to go to destriiction. Finding no: power iidequate to the exigency conferred on the Commissioners of i '.i.n. t w ,., rv .. . ine r.oaa, i convened uic council ot state, anil submitted to them the alternatives 'of either ron- yoking. the Legislature, in. special session, to tro- ide the Heedful means, or of mortgaging the -Rail- appendairt property, tu':seenrb their payment. Ac- cordingly, liomls dated in April, M,iy and July last, j Railroa-sir good navigation, than can the Spin amounting in the whole to 825.000, nil payable the ! niug Wheel with the Cotton Mill. Had we ever 1st of Jan, n-xt,were iifgot'iated.and adimd of trust boon in a more favorable situation in this respect, 'executed.. Some provision is therefore necessary to take up these bonds. Derigning to place the the whole subject nnder the control of the Re pre- ; been the demand for repairs and improvements , that the motive power of tho establishment is in better condition, than at any time heretofore. New and superior Iron has also been purchased and laid down for near ten miles from Gaston southward, J and the whole superstructure of the Road has been J renewed for that distance. Very extensive renew- j als have also been made in the wood work of the line generally. But the process of repairing is , now carried on under great disadvantage, for want of iron to relay a considerable part of the track, and the present earnings of the Road are insuffici ent to procure it. - Tlie Northern half of the line, over which the heaviest trains pass, was originally laid with thin iron, which is much broken, and oc casions a great waste of labor in temporarily re fitting with fragments that aro 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 expenditure. Any proprietor of this wmk would find it Iiib true interest to put it in com plete repair, even if it were necessary to give liens on the proporty to raii.6 the means. If, therefore! (he Roi.d should not be transferred to other hands during jour silting, it is obviously expedient and proper to purchase immediately Iron railing suffi cient to refit it for at least thirty miles. Fifty thou sand dollars expended for this purpose might ena ble the State to receive as profits some 15, 0, or 25,000 of the 55 to 75,000, the present income of the Road, a large part or which is now spent on the ineffectual reparation above discrilied. Its op erations may go on, as at present, without such aid, but they afford no prosjieet of profit. If a loan be contracted for this object, on liberal time, there can be but little doubt of the ability of tin? road to pay it with interest. And in the event' of a sale, it would enhance the pri;e of the whole property by an nuioiiiit certainly equal to tho money thus laid out. " ' "''' -" It would no doubt b? prefcniblu to convert this property into funds for the relief o( the Treasury, rathor than to make any other disposition- of It. To expose it at auction, however, would be to sa crifice it, from the magnitude of the interest, and the facility with which bidders would combine their capital and put down competition". After a com mittee of your body shall have made a tfwimtigh in vestigation of the affiirs of tlie road, and to that end shall have eximined on oath in officers and .head - workmen, if denned necessary, three moilcs w work, 'through the interior of tho State, which be more particularly noticed in the secuel. The. Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad Compa- pnny have ''-regularly paid tho interest on all tiieir debts, and effected considerable improvement on their Road, with the income of the last two years. A minute statement of the condition of their affairs will accompany, the Report of the Board of Inter na,! Improvement. I iun gratified to observe a ve ry handsotno addition to their receipts in the items of freight and Way travel, showing that tho local accommodation from this work W becoming much extended. . They will, 1 presume, bo unable to pay off the principal of their bonds guaranteed by the State, and amounting to &50.000, which will bo- come due the '1st of January next.. But so long as j lucy continue to meet the accruing interest with their a'ccryto:n?d puiwtuality, there cart be no ob jection to extending (o them the State's, credit up on the samo terms as hercioforc. or even for a Ion gcr period In surveying our territory, with an eve to the J present interest nnd wants of the people, I am j more than ever impressed with cur destitution of j facilities for cheap and speedy transportation-. In for profits with him who ha. the advantage of and had the 'impediments which now beset us been imposed by human power, no sacrifice would be esteemed too great to effect our deliverance and re store our prosperity. It is therefore a theme for the profoundest consideration of those enjoying the confidence of a constituency thussitnated,and in tending to requite it by a faithful devotion to their interests, hhat can be done, or ought to lie under taken, to remove these grievances and place their industry and labor on an equal footing with those of their fellow-citizens in other States? It must be admitted, that from Go-graphical causes, the question was originally one rather difficult of so- Motion. And our former enterprise's in Internal Improvement, having failed from causes not ne cessary to be now commented on, the State has of late years taken no action "in constructing works of this kind, and many good citizens appear to have concluded, that further efforts were vain, as our doom to privation in this particular was fixed fate. Meanwhile other States have pushed fur ward their improvements (some of them with a rash and extravagant hand, it is true, but in the main with the meat beneficial results,) overcoming obstacles far greater than any which impede us, and obtaining for themselves, still greater advan tages over us in the competitions of the market. We are therefore impelled not only by all the more obvious considerations w hich appeal to us in form er times, but by a reasonable self-defence, to aban don further hesitation and adopt at once a system of improvement, commensurate witu the wants and interest of the State. Too much should not be undertaken at once, but what may be attempted, should lie thoroughly completed. As the com mencement of such a system, and a basis, on which other works may be engrafted, to any desirable ex tent, as our means may from time to time pcrmil,a Railroad from Raleigh to Charlotte by way of Salisbury, appears to me of the first moment. This scheme has not been much considered here tofore, and derives much of its importance from a kindred work, now in progress from Charlotte to Columbia, South Carolina. Already from Raleigh Northward continuous linos of Railroad and Steam boat transportation stretch through the towns of Virginia and the great cities of the North, to Port land in Maine, and Buffalo on Like Erie. Simi 1 ir works also exist, or are in progress, with a cer tainty of completion in the course of a year or two, extending from Charlotte Southward through Columbia to Charleston : and again from the for- mor of these through Augusts, and the interior of Georgia, snd Tennessee to Nashville, as well as to tlie Mississippi, at Memphis, end to New Or leans, by way of Montgomery and Mobile. Thro' a port of North Carolina alone, a link is wanting, to complete the grand chain of communication, from one extremity of onr Country to the other, and to furnish to the whole nation those facilities of intercourse which tho inhabitants North and South of us, enjoy in their several sections. The connexion proposed therefore, being as it were a bridge over a space now hnpsssable by rteam cars, having at either end the gTrat high ways of tlie North and South, with their numerous branches far a thousand miles in both directions, promises a reasonable remuneration for tlie outlay of it NO. 1. construction, from''" through" transportation : and ini military and other point of view, would he of great national advantag?. Had nature supplied : us with navigable rivers like the Mississippi, flow ing from Raleigh and Charlotte, respectively, to New York and New Orleans, or even to Charles ton, all' would at once percciva the benefit of the junction of the two, though the interior of tlie' iStite, as clearly as did the genius of Clinton that arising fro n thr union of the Hudson with the great Lakes. The parallel may not be yet perfect in the present state ol Railroad conveyances, but isdestined to be bo at no distant day. But tho foregoing are only incidental induce ments to iiudertakV this work. It is commended to us as a great North' Carolina improvement, ap pealing io our interest and State pride, by argu ments which it were almost criminal to overlook. 1st. It would open to the market of tho world an extensive region of tlie State, reaching from the Capitol almost to the Blue ridge,-of great fertility .' and capacity for indefinite improvement, by reason of its Agricultural, Mineral and Manufacturing- resources, 'containing in the Counties within twen ty-five miles of the niost'direct route, more than 230,000. souls;; and within fifty miles, ot more than one half of our whole population, who are -far removed from places of trade and dependent entirely on the common wagon and common road for all their transportation. The occasion will not permit me to dwell on-its aumbcress benefits '. in this' regard, which will readily occur to any ens who looks-on the Map of the State a ith the eye ef a statesman and patriot- 2d. It would add im-al- " culably, to the business and value of oho.at least, -(and ultimately of both,) of our present Railroads in which -"'e State has so deep an interest, and make them productive Stocks. 3d. It would unite the middle and eastern with the western section of the State, in a domei-tic trade, and exchange of productions too cumbersome for the present mode of conveyance, beside facilitating travel for health, and social intercourse. 4th, By running over the most practicable route from Raleigh to Salisbury, and thence turning southwestivard to Charlotte, it would bisect the State for more llwen a hundred miles, bringing tho most remote on either side ' within fifty miles of the Railroad,nd would be in a favorable location for being extended still far ther west, from the former place, and toennmct advantageously by means of Turnpike roads with all the Northwestern part of our territory. Whilst it would confer these benefits on the in terior Country now d( pressed and partially exclu ded from all profitable commerce, the objection has not been overlooked that it does not point immodi-; a.tely to the seaboard of our own State, and to sn increase of the prosperity of our market towns. Let them however not despair. Its advantages will be afforded to them in due season. Af ter tlio completion of the main track, a branch -to Fayetteville or other point on the navigable wa ter of Ihe Cape Fear River, will be ofeaay ac- - comphslimeat " Its extension from Raleigh to Goldsboro' 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. Whether therefore we re gard it as a single work, or as the ground work of an extensive plan, the Road from Raleigh to Chur lotie appears to be the important irr. rovement which should first "engage our attention and our energies. And I accordingly recommend it to the patronage of our Legislature, to the amount of one-half, or at least two fifths of the capital, ne cessary for its consfruction. The distance is a bout one hundred and sixty miles by tie mail roulfl, ' and the cost of the Road and equipments over such route as may bo solecUd, would probably .not r ceed $1,COO,000. As an inducement to aid this scheme, it presents an opportunity fur disposing of the Raleigh and Gaston Road, as has been intima ted in the preceding remarks, on that topifl. - A" company might be organized to embrace the entire line from Gaston to Charlolt?, and the road no owned by th Stats -transferred to thent w a fab valuation in payment of her subscription for stock- Of the particulars of such an arrange ment if favored by the Legislature, no deliuesrlrm is here required. I have already treated of tills subject with more miiiutoness than tuny be appro priate, in an address of this kind, becaost, it' hn as yet attracted but little of the public attention, and from a deep impression of its utility ia allevi ating I lie condition of our industry and reviving the waning fortune of our countrymen while It gives an insured hop of profit crj the enpital hi vef'ed. v: i 9,u I have remarked with fliach aatisfaction.tliat somy enterprising persons among nur fallow-citi-tens, hav commenced Hi Jiavigatica of Neuwl and Tar rivers with Steam Boats of a tight class,' and that a spirit is aweMicd among tlie people in : the upper section of tlie Caps Fear to own that '. river for navigation to or bore. the eonflasncve-of main branches. Every mccewl'id, flWtt $ 1 jeets of this nature is a public ni-rit.and4i:r,e the fostering aid of the Lpcii 'aturu. ,4 .7t i ; , It b is not been thought expedient to exetrtjo the powr conferred on tlie Rrd of Liuma! Limn. menl by th but General Assembly, ti sell (h CU'Moot and Harlow's Cre-k Csnal, and it expir-' ed by limitation with the opening of j-imr Scs-dr-a," (CuHoW' ti lift p'ge-)