| 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 |
|