| Office of the Chatham R. R. Co. |
| Raleigh, Jan. 21st, 1863 |
| |
| To His Excellency, A. B. Vance, Governor
and President of the Board of Internal Improvements |
| |
| Sir, |
| In February, 1862, the
Convention of the State, apprehensive of a scarcity of Iron, on
account of the stringency of the blockade and the enormous demands of
the war, granted an important privilege to the Chatham Railroad Co.,
to facilitate a speedy access to, and development of, the rich
resources of the coal and iron region of Deep River, in the counties
of Moore and Chatham. By an Ordinance passed at that time, solvent
corporations subscribing to the capital stock of this company, were
authorized in exchange for their own bonds deposited with the
Treasurer, to procure Coupon bonds of the State, running twenty years,
and bearing six per cent interest, the entire issue not to exceed
eight hundred thousand dollars. |
| Under the Charter, as amended
by the Ordinance, stock was subscribed, sufficient for the
organization of the Company, and the necessary surveys were made as
rapidly as the difficulty of procuring competent engineers would
permit. The middle division of the road, twenty-three miles long, has
been located, and responsible contractors have agreed to finish the
grading by the 10th January, 1864. This division extends from Cary, on
the North Carolina Railroad eight miles from Raleigh, to Lockville on
Deep River, to which point the products of the coal and iron mines can
be, (as coal destined to points along the North Carolina and Raleigh
& Gaston Railroads has heretofore been,) transported by a tedious
process with the aid of the navigation works of Deep River. It is in
contemplation to extend the road from Cary to Raleigh, on the one
hand, and on the other, from Lockville through the heart of the coal
region, either to the Gulf, or eight miles beyond it. But the above
described middle division, as being of most importance, the Directors
of the Company have resolved first to finish. |
| Of the capital stock, two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars have been subscribed by
"solvent corporations," which made application to the
Treasurer for an exchange of bonds as authorized by the Ordinance of
the Convention, but at my instance no bonds have as yet been issued or
prepared. Aid was expected from other corporations, as for instance,
the Seaboard & Roanoke Railroad Company, and the Mining Companies
of Deep River; but the former has been taken in part by the enemy and
the latter, mainly the property of Northern owners, has been seized
under the confiscation law and no subscription can be expected from
either for many years. |
|
Under these circumstances, I have deemed it expedient to
suspend operations under the Ordinance above mentioned, and to apply
to the General Assembly for a change in the charter of the Chatham
Railroad Company, with the hope that in consideration of the surrender
by this Company of the privileges of the Ordinance, the State may make
a subscription to the capital stock. The bill pending in the House of
Commons provides for such subscription, to the extent of ten thousand
dollars per mile, whenever any ten miles of the Road shall be graded
and prepared for the superstructure, and a like subscription for every
additional ten miles so graded. The entire debt of the State on this
account is not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars, and provision
is made for adequate representation of the State in the Directory of
the Company.
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| This subscription, which is
the same amount loaned by the State to the Fayetteville & Western
Railroad Company, and is less than that granted to many other
Railroads, would enable the Company, instead of waiting for more
peaceful times, to finish such portion of their Road, as will bring
forward the coal and iron of a region rich in those products, to aid
in the prosecution of our gigantic struggle, and relieve the present
necessities of our people. By this more open and straightforward plan,
the State will escape complications with Corporations solvent now, but
which may become bankrupt before the expiration of the twenty years
allowed them for the redemption of their bonds, while it will be
noticed that three hundred thousand dollars less of State bonds will
be thrown into the market. |
| I hope I will be pardoned for
suggesting that the reason urged upon the Convention for the extension
of State aid to the Chatham Railroad Company, which induced the action
of that body, apply with ten fold more force at this time. The coal
from the mines of the Deep River region, hauled by wagons at great
cost over steep and muddy roads, has been found in the Railroad and
Government shops and Foundries at Raleigh, Charlotte, and the Company
Shops and other places, by actual trial, superior to any in the
Confederacy. The scarcity of iron, without which our country in peace
would be a wilderness and in war defenceless; the scarcity caused by
the countless requirements of the military and naval service, and the
continued failure of the European supply, is a fruitful source of
distress to the agricultural and mechanical interests, and the rapid
deterioration of our railways, over burdened by the heavy demands of
increased travel, transportation of troops and army supplies, call for
speedy access to a region where enterprising capitalists, under large
government contracts, are busily engaged in preparing to extract iron
from inexhaustible deposits of ore. The Presidents of the Railroad
Companies of Virginia, North-Carolina and South-Carolina, in
Convention assembled at Augusta, have recommended the establishment in
this region, of foundries and rolling-mills, at the joint expense of
those companies. This and all other enterprises will be liable to
failure as long as Deep River can only be reached by keeping open the
railways diverging from Wilmington, so liable to interruption by the
enemy. |
| A copy of the charter of this
company and amendments is herewith transmitted. |
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Respectfully submitted,
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|
Kemp P. Battle
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|
President
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