NP, WJ 2/17/1862

From the Wilmington Journal
 
February 17, 1862
 
Message of President Davis on Railroads
   As there is considerable interest to know to what extent the Government proposes to extend aid to the railroads as part of the military defences of the country, we have obtained a copy of the President's special message on the subject.
   We may add here that we are informed that the measure which the Government has recommended for an appropriation of one million dollars to establish railway communication between Danville, Va., and Greensborough, N. C., has met with considerable opposition in Congress. The bill was defeated on a motion to engross, but, it is said, is likely to be reconsidered. The following is a copy of the recent message of President Davis:
To the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States:
   I herewith transmit a copy of a communication from Mr. William S. Ashe, urging the completion of certain railroads, as necessary for the proper transportation of troops and military stores in the exigency of the present war. I also transmit a copy of a communication from Mr. E. Fontaine, the President of the Central Railroad of Virginia, urging the completion of twenty miles of the Covington & Ohio Railroad, upon considerations of military necessity.
   ????? {One line of text lost at the newspaper fold} resolutions adopted at a Convention of Railroad presidents, held in Richmond, on the 6th of December, asking for the assistance of the Confederate Government in procuring supplies which are indispensable to the maintenance of the railroad system of the country.
   "That certain appropriations, which otherwise could not be constitutionally made by the Confederate Government, come within the range of its powers, when absolutely necessary for the prosecution of the war, there is not doubt. It is equally clear, that when the military necessity ceases, the right to make such appropriations no longer exists. To exercise this power when it exists, and to confine it within the proper limits, is a matter for the just discretion of Congress; and to enable it to act upon the interesting subjects to which they relate, I transmit the communications and resolutions which accompany this message.
   I have already recommended that the Confederate Government should insist upon making a railroad from Danville, Virginia, to Greensboro', North Carolina {the Piedmont RR}, upon the ground of a strong military necessity for completing an interior through line from Virginia to the Southern Atlantic States. I deem this to be necessary not only on account of the superior safety of such a line from hostile inroads and invasion; but because of the great additional facilities which its completion would afford for the transportation of troops and military supplies. The road from Selma, Alabama, to Meridian, Mississippi, is a link that has claims similar to the road already commended to your assistance in a previous message. While the completion of the twenty miles of the Covington & Ohio railroad, as proposed by Mr. Fontaine, might be eminently useful for military purposes, I cannot, in the present condition of the treasury, recommend that you should contribute by direct appropriation.
   The resolutions of the convention of railroad presidents and superintendents relate to a most important subject. If the railroads should be generally disabled from transporting troops and military supplies for the prosecution of the war, the result would be most disastrous. It is urged that the capital necessary to construct the establishments required for re-rolling rails and the manufacture of locomotives cannot well be had, unless the Confederate Government would make some advance for the purpose. With the machinery proper for rolling the rails there might be connected that which is necessary for rolling plates for uses which are wanted in the naval service. How far it would be proper for Congress to authorize advances to be made on contracts to furnish these plates or engines, it will be for that body to consider and determine. Some such advance might facilitate and secure the establishment of works which would, as the same time, furnish what is required by the Government, re-roll the railroad iron, and make locomotives for the use of the railroads. The exigency is believed to be such as to require the aid of the Government, and is commended to your favorable consideration.
Jefferson Davis

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