SPEECH
/
OP c
OF THE
HON. HI ESTER CLYMER,
OF
BERKS COUNTY,
AGAINST THE REPEAL
OF THE
TONNAGE TAX,
ON THE
PENNSYLVANIA RAIL ROAD CO.
AND REPLY TO THE
HON. A. K. MCCLURE.
DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, ON WEDNESDAY jo
EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1861. I*
H E
YoCíx
READING:
J. LAWRENCE G ETZ, PRINTER.
1861 !
SPEECH
OF THE
HON. HIESTER CLYMER,
M
OF
BERKS COUNTY,
AGAINST THE KEPEAL
©F THE
TONNAGE TAX,
ON THE
PENNSYLVANIA RAIL ROAD CO.
AND REPLY TO THE
HON. A. K. McCLURE.
DELIVERED IN THE SENATE OF PENNSYLVANIA, ON WEDNESDAY
EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1861.
READING:
J. LAWRENCE GETZ, PRINTER..
••••••••
1861.
SPEECH
Mr. CLYMER. Mr. Speaker, we are in the third session of this
day, and I do not doubt that every Senator is as wearied as I am by
the arduous duties imposed on us. I should not therefore, at this late
hour, rise to address the Senate upon the important subject under con¬
sideration, were it not my sincere desire that there should be no un¬
necessary delay in the consideration and final action on this bill. This
final action the friends of the bill, who are in a majority here, desire to
take to-morrow, and as they have intimated that it is also their wish
that those who differ with them in relation to the question, should have
every opportunity to examine and express their views upon it, I shall
therefore, this night, proceed to the difficult task, incapacitated as I am
for its faithful performance, by tbe incessant labors of the past week
and of the past day.
This crowded Senate, each Senator in his seat, these galleries filled
with citizens from all portions of the State, remind me of the interest
and importance of the subject. If I shall be able so to present and
discuss it, as to reward Senators for their patience in listening to me, I
shall achieve more than I now hope or expect. Before proceeding to
the statement of the case, and the argument upon the main features of
the bill, I beg to remind the Senate of its vast importance—involving
as it surely does, the interest of the present and of the next and many
after generations—dealing in millions, and affecting directly and tan¬
gibly every tax-payer in this Commonwealth. I can conceive of no
question of State policy which is of more vital and absorbing inter¬
est. Indeed, sir, it now overshadows all other questions—it is discussed
in business marts, and at the farmer's fireside ; it is the topic of conver¬
sation in the mansions of the rich and in the homes of the poor—every
man—all men are looking to our action—watching with deep anxiety
the result of our deliberations, and Senators of Pennsylvania owe it to
themselves and to their constituents, that their deliberations should be
as grave as the question is important, that their examination should be
as thorough as the subject is vast, so that their conclusion may be just
4
t.-) the great people whom they represent. For, sir, this question, as I
have before remarked, directly and personally affects every tax payer,
and as these tax payers are the true sovereigns of the State, a strict
account will be demanded by them from each one of us as to the man¬
ner in which we have performed our duty. They will accept no divided
service, they will be satisfied with no compromise of their interests, they
will not forgive those who yield to the blandishments and allurements
of aggregated wealth or corporate power. They are our masters, we
their servants, and as such we owe to them and them alone, duty, fealty
and obedience. May, sir, that duty be recognized, may that fealty be
rendered, and may that obedience be implicit.
I have indulged in these remarks- to remind Senators that we are the
creatures of the people ,* that they who made, can unmake, and that we
who are clothed by them with brief authority are not above or beyond
their power.
The bill before us is entitled (Jvow wrongly and falsely I shall here¬
after show) "An- Act for the Commutation;of Tonnage Duties."
It is a threadbare story, but for my purposes I must again repeat it,
how the Pennsylvania Railroad company, which is here to-day asking
this legislation, came into existence. Some sixteen or seventeen years
ago the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company endeavored to procure
the passage of an act renewing their charter granted first in 1827, au¬
thorizing them to build a portion of their road through this State. This
application aroused the fears and jealousy of Philadelphia. The trade
of the far West and of Southern and Western Pennsylvania which, by
the State Works, had for years been poured into her lap, would be
diverted to Baltimore by this proposed improvement. Philadelphia
perceived that unless this project was defeated, lasting injury would be
done her trade. She, therefore, proposed to build a railroad from thin
point (Harrisburg) to Pittsburg.
Application was made in 1846 to the Legislature for a charter, and
on the 13th of April of that year, " an Act to incorporate the Pennsyl¬
vania Railroad company " was passed—by which the company was au¬
thorized to construct a railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburg. This Act,
then, was passed to prevent the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio
Railroad, which would have diverted trade from Philadelphia.
At the time of the passage of the Act, the State owned the public
works connecting Harrisburg with Pittsburg, and aa this Act authorized
the construction of a rival improvement, parallel to, and of course to be
in direct competition with these works, objection was made to granting
5
the charter ou the ground that it would not only diminish the receipts,
but also the value of these works which had been paid for by the people
of the whole State. The reply of those asking the franchise was, we
" admit that this will be the case, and to compensate for all diminution
in receipts, and in value, we are willing to pay the State as guardian for
the people, a toll or duty of five mills per mile for each ton of two
thousand pounds loaded or received at Pittsburg or Harrisburg, or at
intermediate points, and carried over the road more than twenty miles,
between the tenth day of March, and the first day of December in each
year." This provision in relation to a toll or duty on tonnage was the
consideration, and the only one, upon which this corporation was created
by the Legislature of this State. Without it no charter could ever have
been obtained. It was the very essence of their existence—the consid¬
eration of the contract. .
In order that this case may be presented fairly, and to show the con¬
dition of affairs when this company was created, I must refer to another
and cotemporaneous piece of legislation.
On the 21st day of April, 1846, eight days after the passage of the
Act incorporating the Pennsylvania Railroad company, the Legislature
pàssed an Act—
11 To authorize the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company to construct
a railroad through Pennsylvania, in a direction from Baltimore to the
Ohio river at the city of Pittsburg."
In this Act, for the benefit and protection of the Pennsylvania Rail¬
road, there was the following important proviso :
' " And provided also, That this Act shall not go into effect before
the 80th of July, 1847 j and if the Legislature, during its present ses¬
sion, should pass an Act incorporating a company with authority to
construct a railroad from Harrisburg to Pittsburg, within the limits of
this State, and three millions of dollars should be bona fide subscribed
to the stock of said company, and ten per cent, on each share be actually
paid in and letters patent issued by the Governor in conformity to the
provisions of said Act, within one year from the passage thereof ; and
if thirty miles or more of said railroad should be put under contract
for construction, and satisfactory evidence thereof be furnished to the
Governor on or before the said 30th of July, 1847, then, and in that
case, the Governor shall issue his proclamation, setting forth that fact,
and therefore this Act, granting the right of way to the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad company to extend their road through this State to the
6
Ohio river, at Pittsburg, shall be null and void, otherwise to be and
remain in full force and virtue,"
From the foregoing it will appear that the grant of the right of way
to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad depended upon a subscription to
the stock of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad of $3,000,000, a pay¬
ment uf ten per cent, thereon, and the putting under contract of at least
thirty miles of their road before the 30th of July, 1847.
The necessary amount was subscribed, the per centage paid, and thirty
miles of road put under contract before the 30th of July, 1847, and
thereby, the grant of the right of way to the Baltimore and Ohio Rail¬
road became null and void. In this same Act, granting the right of
way to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, there was a provision of vast
importance and value to this State, and if this company had not been
destroyed by the Pennsylvania Central Road it would at this day have
yielded to this State more revenue than ever has been paid, or ever
will be by the Pennsylvania Central. The provision is as follows :
" Provided, That within six months after the completion of said
railroad to Pittsburg, and semi-annually thereafter, the proper officers or
agents of the said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad company shall make
out, under oath or affirmation, and transmit to the Treasurer of this*
State, a statement exhibiting the amount of tonnage of whatsoever kind
or description and the number of passengers that may have passed over
the entire length of said road, between Pittsburg and Cumberland du¬
ring the preceding six months; and that they shall also, at the same
time, pay into the Treasury of this Commonwealth, a tax or duty on all
tonnage of whatsoever kind or description, except the ordinary baggage
of passengers that may have passed over the entire length of said road
'between Cumberland and Pittsburg, during the last preceding six
months, at such rate as the Legislature may hereafter direct, not ex¬
ceeding three mills per ton of two thousand pounds per mile ; and for
shorter distances, exceeding twenty miles, at the same rate and in pro¬
portion thereto, and also pay into the Treasury aforesaid, at the same
time, a tax or duty on all passengers that may have passed over one
hundred miles or more of said road, between the aforesaid points, du¬
ring the last preceding six mouths, at such rates as the Legislature may
hereafter direct, not exceeding fifty cents for each passenger, until a
railroad shall be constructed, connecting the Columbia railroad with the
said Baltimore and Ohio railroad, by means of the Cumberland Valley,
or any other railroad ; and when such connecting road shall be con¬
structed, the said tax or duty on passengers shall not exceed twenty-five
7
cents for each passenger; and the Legislature hereby reserves the right
to adopt such additional measures to secure the faithful compliance with
the conditions of this proviso, as may hereafter be deemed necessary and
right." •
It is scarcely necessary to remind the Senate, how bitterly the passage
of this act (although it contained the foregoing valuable stipulation in
favor of the State,) was opposed by the city of Philadelphia ; or on the
other hand, how ardently and earnestly the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
urged its adoption. They knew the immense value of the grant, and
although it was burdened with the above proviso, infinitely more onerous
to them, and therefore more valuable to us, than that imposed upon the
Pennsylvania Central, yet they were ready and anxious to accept the
franchise upon the condition annexed ; but, sir, the bill did not, nor
could it pass, until the proviso was inserted, which afterwards rendered
the grant null and void. Thus, therefore, it is seen, that the agreement
on the part of the Pennsylvania Railroad to pay this tonnage toll or
duty, which she is this day asking to commute, or in other words, as
I shall show, to be relieved from entirely, was founded upon three dis¬
tinct and valuable considerations :
First, The diminution of the receipts of the State works.
Second. The diminution in the value of said works.
Third. To compensate the State for what Bhe would lose by ren¬
dering the grant to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad null and void,
under which grant, according to the proviso which I have just read,
the State, for all time to come, would have received an income greater
far than she has ever derived from this tonnage toll or duty on the
Pennsylvania Railroad.
These were indeed three valuable considerations, and for them this
company gladly, cheerfully and willingly contracted to pay a tonnage
toll or duty, and without having agreed to do so, it is as clear as the
noon-day sun that she would never have received her charter.
But the boon to be obtained was equally great. A mighty city was
about to be robbed of her trade, her commercial and manufacturing
interests were threatened with decay and ruin. This city, therefore, in
her fear and in her danger appealed to the State, for what ? The right
to ruin and destroy the vast line of improvements which had cost her
people twenty millions, and to pay the interest on the cost of which
every man's land—every man's property was taxed to the uttermost.
Nor was this all the State was asked to do—it was demanded that she
should destroy a right, which she held for the common benefit of every,
8
tax payer, which would yield her poverty-stricken treasury thousands,
while this toll or duty from the Pennsylvania Toad would pay but hun¬
dreds. This was the demand made of the State in 1846. It was a
fearful, terrible sacrifice the State was called upon to make. In return
she was to receive " a toll or duty " from this company. In that day
it was never supposed that this toll or duty, imposed on this company,
was in time to be called a tax, and as such to be imposed by them, for
whom the people of the State yielded so much, upon that same people,
as thi3 company now asserts that it does. At that hour this was never
dreamed of. No, sir, it was " a toll or duty " to be paid by one of the
parties to that solemn contract, to the other. This, according to their
own assertion, is all changed now. Instead of its being a toll or duty
to be paid by them, it has now become, under and by the practice of the
corporation, a tax upon a portion of the very people, to whom and for
whose benefit it was to have been paid.
If, sir, the State had owned no works, if the country between this
point and Pittsburg, had been a pathless woods ; still if in 1846 the
State could have made a contract with a great company like the Balti¬
more and Ohio railroad for a right of way, by which hundreds of thou¬
sands would yearly have been poured into her treasury, it is not to be
presumed she would have refused to make this grant, unless she received
some equivalent. Surely no corporation could have hoped to secure,
without some consideration, the right to build a road from the eastern
to the western portion of the State, when the State by granting even less
privileges to another company, could have received forever thereafter a
yearly revenue of hundreds of thousands. The supposition is so perfectly
and evidently preposterous that it has but to be mentioned to be under¬
stood. I repeat, then, that if the State had not in 1846 owned one mile
of canal or railroad, this franchise to the Pennsylvania railroad company
would never have been granted without some compensation to the State
for losing the benefits to be derived from Ühe right of way granted to the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and which was to be rendered null and
void by the construction of this Pennsylvania Railroad. I have thus, Mr.
Speaker, at greater length than was my intention, traced the early his¬
tory of this road, and have shown by the legislation of that time, that
then it fully admitted the justice and righteousness of the policy of the
State which imposed this toll or duty. Indeed it was bo clearly right
under all the circumstances, that the company volunteered to pay it,
but too glad to secure so great a boon at so cheap a rate.
In order fully to understand this subject, it is necessary at this place
>to refer to the Act of Assembly passed 27th March, 1848, by which the
9
toll or tonnage of five mills per ton per mile, from the tenth of March
to the first of December was commuted to a tax of three mills per ton
per mile the whole year.
This act was doubtless favorable to the company, as they could well
afford to pay three mills during twelve months, to be released from
the payment of five mills during nine months, those nine months being
the business months of the year. It is also necessary to refer to the
Act of Assembly of the 16th of May, 1857, under which the State
works, viz : The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad, the Canal from
Columbia to the junction at Duncau's Island, the Juniatia Canal from
thence to Hollidaysburg, the Allegheny Portage Railroad, including
the new road to avoid the inclined planes, and the Canal from Johns-
town to Pittsburg with all the property thereto appertaining or in any¬
wise connected therewith, were sold the Pennsylvania Central rail¬
road for the sum of seven millions five hundred thousand dollars,
the minimum price fixed by the Legislature. The process by which the
value-ef these works was reduced—how unfair and unjust discrimina¬
tions were made against them—how the general and local freight agents
of the public works were bribed and bought off—how their trade was
undermined and all their interests sapped by this Pennsylvania railroad
company, were so fully exposed and conclusively shown in the able ar¬
gument of my friend, the Senator from Wayne, (Mr. Mott,) that I will
not here attempt to repeat them.
It is sufficient to say that persistently and systematically everything
was done to render them unproductive and valueless, this company well
knowing that " no one can be heir to the living," and, therefore in
order to accomplish her designs she discriminated until she destroyed.
No state, no company, no individual could bear up against the power
and influence of this mighty corporation the creature of our own mak¬
ing—therefore the prey was hers on her own terms and at her own
price.
These four Acts of Assembly are the only ones to which it will be
'necessary to refer in discussing this subject. They contain every thing
needful for information as to the nature of the tonnage tax, the reasons
for its imposition and the changes made in relation to its amount.
I shall now proceed, Mr. Speaker, to examine the bill which we are
asked by this company to pass, examine the reasons given by its friends
for its passage, and after having done so I hope to be able to prove be¬
yond the possibility of question, if it could be fairly and honestly de¬
termined, that a more outrageous demand, a more impudent attempt to
10
defraud the tax payers of this or any other Commonwealth has never
been made. And sir, if I had the ability so to illustrate my views, so
to enforce them, with the powers of logic and eloquence as to bring
conviction to the mind of every Senator here, I know I would receive
the eternal thanks of the tax payers of this State ; but, sir, had I this
coveted power of logic and eloquence, I fear, indeed I had almost said
I know, it would be unavailing. The astounding and indecent haste
with which this bill, involving millions, was forced through the popular
branch of the Legislature, and the evident determination of its friends
on this floor to compel those who are opposed to it to act and vote with¬
out giving them time necessary to digest and prepare their arguments
against it, warns me that the fiat has gone forth, that this State and
her dearest interests are at the mercy of a creature into which she
herself but sixteen short years ago breathed the breath of life—that
Legislatures and' Senates are but willing instruments of a gigantic power,
which stretching from one end of the State to another controls all par¬
ties, makes and unmakes political leaders, and which will, unless its
power is controlled, in a few more short years be a greater power than
the State itself! I shall now proceed, sir, to examine the reasons given
in the preamble for this Act. The first is that a tax or duty was im¬
posed upon the company, which was " intended to compensate for any
probable diminution in the receipts of the Main Line of public works
by reason of the construction and operation of the Pennsylvania Rail¬
road/'
I have heretofore shown conclusively that it was not a " tax, " but
in the words of the act of incorpotion a "toll or duty;" and that it
was not alone intended to compensate for the diminution in their re¬
ceipts, but also to compensate for diminution in their value, and
further and more especially to compensate for the destruction of the
right of way granted to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which would
undoubtedly have yielded the State a much greater sum per year, than
this company has ever or will ever pay. It has' been shown on this
floor that not only did its construction diminish the receipts but also
the value of the works. This reason having been shown to be ground¬
less, I shall now proceed to examine the second reason, which is, that
as under the provisions of the Act of 1857, if the company had been
permitted to purchase the works, as she was ready and willing to do, at
the sum of nine millions of dollars, she would have been released from
the payment not only of all tonnage tax, but also of all taxes upon its
capital stock, dividends and property, but that being prevented from
Il
purchasing at that sum by the Supreme Court, which decided that the
provision in the Act of 1857, releasing her from taxation, was uncon¬
stitutional and void, she was compelled to purchase at seven millions-
five hundred thousand dollars, and therefore this Company oontends
that she should now be released after she paid only' #7,500,000, as it
was the evident intention of the Legislature of 1857 to release her upon
the payment of nine millions. Does this Company, sir, offer to pay
to-day, what she was anxious to do in 1857 ? She was then anxious
to pay nine millions, one million five hundred thousand more than she
proposes to pay under this bill. If to-day the Company should say to
the Legislature, u we are willing to pay this one million five hundred
thousand in addition to what we paid in 1857," there might be some
show of plausibility in the proposition, even should there be but little
of justice and right. But this corporation does no such thing. She
has grown more strong and powerful since that day, and now she says,
" we will pay you what we bid in 1857, to wit : #7,500,000, and because
you then said that we should be released on payment of nine millions,
you must now release us although we paid but #7,500,000—you shall
not have what we were willing to pay in 1857, and if you refuse our
demand to be released, we will resist your claim for tonnage tax in every
Court of the Commonwealth and in the Supreme Court of the United
States." This is one of the reasons presented why we should pass this
bill ; if it is one, I have failed to see it and cannot appreciate it. Can
any Senator discover in it either justice, equity or reason ? Does it
agree with the simple rules of right which should and do ordinarily
govern the transactions of every day life 1 Because I have sold you a
house for a thousand dollars less than you were willing to pay for it,
therefore, I must release you from the mortgage I had previously held
upon other property belonging to you. The proposition bears absurdity
upon its face, and while it cannot be defended) it should not be tolera¬
ted. This disposes of the second and third reasons set forth in the
preamble. The fourth " whereas " asserts that it was the clear intention
of the Legislature upon their Becoming the purchaser, in 1857, of the
Main Line at the sum of nine millions, that thereupon they were to be
released from the payment of'tliis tonnage tax. Grant it, sir, and pos¬
sibly if the company would now propose what it was willing to do in
1857, the present Legislature might at least have some slight ground
upon which to base favorable action, but their present demand is not
in conformity with their offer in 1857.
Another reason, in the same " whereas," and it is but a re-assertion
of their first one, is that as the State works have been sold to them,
12
«therefore the reason for the'imposition of the tax has ceased, and that
therefore the company denies the right of the State, any longer to de¬
mand the payment of said tax, and said demand has led to litigation
between the State and the company, and will probably involve the par¬
ties in litigation with citizens of other States, &c. Or in other words,
it is asserted by them, that because they have obtained all that was left
•of our public works, therefore they will and do refuse to pay us that
which is a part of the consideration of the purchase. I have heretofore
shown the three great considerations of this tonnage tolls or duty. I
will again hastily recapitulate them. First—The diminution in the
receipts of the State works. Secoud—The diminution in their value,
and Third, the relinquishment of the revenue the State would have re¬
ceived for the grant of the right of way to the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad. Therefore, say they, because we did reduce the receipts of
jour works, because wa did destroy their value and become their pur¬
chasers at one-third their original cost, therefore we refuse to pay you
the tonnage tax, which was the consideration in the contract permitting
us to do these things. If this is indeed so, and it is so palpable and
clearly unfounded in reaon or justice, then I still have the reply to
make, " How do you propose to recompense the State and its people
for granting you a charter which destroyed the right of way granted
•the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, under which we would have received
thousands where we now get, or should get, hundreds?" What an¬
swer will this company, which has destroyed not only the income but
also the value of the public works, make to this ? Can they ever restore
to the tax-ridden people of this Commonwealth this source of revenue ?
No, Mr. Speaker, the grant to them destroyed it forever. The right
of way is no longer wanted by the Baltimore and Ohio company. It
has constructed its iron pathway over the mountains of Maryland at a
cost of millions more than over the route it desired to take through our
State, and for which it would have paid to us the bonus stipulated in
their charter forever. The Southern tier of our counties have not only
lost the advantage of the improvement, but the State has, for this com¬
pany, bartered away a richer heritage than I can estimate or this Sen¬
ate can eonceive. And because we have done this we are blandly told
u the right of the State any longer to demand the payment of the tax is
denied, and said demand has led to litigation between the State and the
company." Surely, Mr. Speaker, this company cannot be serious in
assigning this as a reason. If it is, it is the sublimity of assurance !
Whose fault is it, sir, that there has been litigation ? Bid the State
13
ever refuse to receive this tonnage tax T On the contrary, sir, has not
this corporation, since 1857, persistently denied our right to» claim, and
refused to pay it? Did not the late Attorney General, Judge Knox,
with great ability and energy, pursue this defaulting, defiant corporation,
first in the Court of Common Pleas of this district, then in the Supreme
Court of the State, to which the company appealed when it was decided
against them below, and finally, when our Supreme Court decided
against them, they took writs of error to the Supreme Court of the
United States. Did the State court this litigation, did the law officers
of the Commonwealth, for mere pleasure, pursue this much abused and
long-suffering company from Court to Court until they at length housed
themselves in the Supreme Court of the United States ? Surely not,
Mr. Speaker. Had this company not refused to be bound by its con¬
tract, had it obeyed the laws of this State, there would have been no
litigation. But, sir, because tbere has been litigation, because they
have boldly resisted law and broken contracts, are we, therefore, to be¬
come their champions and do for them that which is not written in the
bond, and that which they can never obtain in any Court of law or
justice in Christendom ? Neither my constituents nor those of any
Senator on this floor, bave sent us here for any such purpose.
The fourth " whereas " is in the following words :
And whereas, The said company has proposed a compromise and final
settlement of the question, by paying into the Treasury, in commutation,
of the said tonnage tax, and in discharge thereof, such additional sum
semi-annually, over and above the instalments of principal and the in¬
terest on its debt to the State, as may be required to make said payment
amount to four hundred and sixty thousand dollars, ($460,000) annually,
until the year eighteen hundred and ninety, at which time the entire
balance of the principal and interest shall be paid in full.
What is this proposition, divested of the verbiage which legal inge¬
nuity, craft, cunning, and design have thrown around it ? What is
this commutation of tonnage tax, and what the consideration offered
the State for which she is to part with an annual yearly income of more
than three hundred thousand dollars ? I confess these questions pre¬
sented great difficulties to my own mind. Tbere was a speciousness
about the offer to pay $460,000 yearly until the 31st day of July, 1890,
and then to pay the balance due upon their bonds, which would induce
the most careful person to imagine there was some intention to do what
is just. But, sir, their former reasons, I found upon examination to
be so fallacious that upon coming to this one I was- not disposed to ao-
14
cept it without close aud careful examination. Having done so I am
prepared to give to the Senate the result. The following table explains
the mode by which I arrive at it :
Tabular statement of the amount and date of jpayments proposed by
the present bill. Also an exhibit of the total amount to be paid up
to, and the amounts still due on the 3 Is? day of July, 1890 :
Principal due.
$7,300,000
7,205,000
7,105,250
7,000,512
6,890,538
6,775,065
6,653,818
6,526,509
6,392,834
6,252,476
6,105,100
5,950,355
5,787,872
5,617,266
5,438,129
5,250,036
5,052,538
4,845,165
4,627,423
4,398,794
4,158,734
3,906,670
3,642,004
3,364,104
3,070,309
2,753,825
2,431,516
2,093,092
1,737,747
1,364,634
195,884
00
00
00
50
12
02
27
18
63
36
17
17
92
56
88
37
18
08
33
49
21
88
42
64
87
36
62
45
07
42
14
1,168,750 28
Interest due
$365,000 00
360,250 00
355,262 .50
350,025 62
344,526 90
338,753 25
332.690 01
326,325 45
319,641 73
312,623 81
305,255 00
297,517 75
289,393 64
280,863 32
271,906 49
262,501 81
252,626 90
242,258 25
231,371 16
219,939 72
207,936 71
195,333 54
182,100 22
166,205 23
153,515 49
137.691 26
121,575 83
104,654 62
86,887 35
Interest on to
July 31.
1890,
34,115 86
Principal paid.
$ '95,000 00
99,750 00
104,737 50
.109,974 38
115,473 10
121,246 75
127,309 09
133,674 55
140,358 2,7
147,376 19
154,745 00
162,482 25
170,606 30
179,136 68
188,093 51
197,498 19
207,373 10
217,741 75
228,628 84
240,060 28
252,063 33
264,666 46
277,899 78
293,794 77
316,484 51
322,308 74
338,424 17
355,345 38
373,112 65
Half year prin¬
cipal to July
31,1890.
195,884 14
Total amount paid.
$460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
460,000 00
230,000 00
Total Payments, Principal, Int. up toJuly 81, 1890, $13,570,000 00
Add balance of principal, due 31st July, 1860, to wit : 1,168,750 28
Payments, principal and interest under this act, 14,738,750 28
Add interest on surplus payments over $100,000 a year, 1,295,762 37
Payments, principal, int. and int. on surplus payments, 16,034,512 65
15
From which it appears that she now owes the State the sum of $7,300-
000—the interest on whieh at 5 per cent, is, $365,000—as the propo¬
sition is to pay $460,000 a year, the first year $95,000, will he paid on
account of principal. This sum deducted from $7,300,000 will leave
due as principal in 1862, 7,205,000. And so yearly, the interest de¬
creasing as the amount of principal paid increases, and on the 31st of
July, 1890, they will have paid $13,570,000, as it appears by the table,
being the exact amount they stipulate to pay under the first section of
the bill. So far the case may have been clear to every one, but the
question to my mind, and I presume that of every Senator was, what
amount of principal will still be due the State on that distant day ?
This was the great difficulty — it might be one or it might be five mil¬
lions. The table settles the matter j and by it it will be seen that the
balance which will be due the State on account of principal is $1,168,-
720,28. If you will add this sum to the amount previously paid on
account of principal and interest, the total payments on account of the
debt now due the State from this company, according to the proposition
of the bill under consideration, upon the bonds given for the purchase of
the Main Line will amount on 31st July, 1890, to the sum of $14,738,-
750 28. But the argument of the friends of this act in its favor is
founded upon the fact that it compels this company to pay off the prin¬
cipal of the debt more rapidly than the acts of 1857 requires, and that
this is a great benefit to the State, and consequently a loss to the corpor¬
ation. What the gain is to the State I will show hereafter. What is
the loss to the company is ascertained by the table which I hold in my
hand. It was prepared upon the following basis : The law of 1857
requires the company to pay yearly the interest at five per cent, on her
bonds and $100,000 on account of the principal. Therefore when by
the bill under discusssion the company shall be required to pay on ac¬
count of principal more than $100,000 a year, it should receive interest
on such over-payment of principal.
16
TaMe Exhibiting Payments or» account of Principal Proposed to be
made under the present Act, in excess of the amount required by Act
of 1857, to wit: $100,000 per annum, together with interest on each
payment at five per cent., up to July 81, 1890.
1803
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
July
31
Excess, $ 4,737 50
9,974 3$
15,473 10
21,246 75
27,309 09
33,674 55
40,358 27
47,376 19
54,745 00
62,482 25
70,606 36
79,136 68
88,093 51
97,498 19
107,373 10
117,741 75
128,628 84
140,060 28
152,063 33
164,666 46
177,899 78
193,794 77
216,484 51
222,308 74
238,424 17
255,345 38
273,112 65
a
il
ti
tt
ti
II
tt
II
II
tt
tt
tt
tt
tt
tt
tí
tt
tí
ti
it
II
II
tí
tí
tí
tí
27 year» at 5 per cent
tt
145,884 14
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
tt
u
u
tt
ti
tt
tt
tí
tí
ti
tt
tt
tí.
tt
tí
tí
tt
tí
tí
tí
u
a
6 months at 5 "
Making total interest on payment in excess.
As in 1861, the Company does not pay with¬
in $5000 00 of the amount required by
law, it must be charged with 29 years, 6
months interest on it, $7,365 00
And as in 1862, the Company does not pay
within $250 00 of the amount required
by law, it must be charged interest for
28 years, 6 months on this sum, 356 33
True amount of interest on payment» in
excess, -
18
19
75
25
$ 6,395 62
14,971 47
19,341 37
25,497 10
31,405 45
37,042 00
42,376
47,376
52,007
56,340
60,016 40
63,309 34
66,070 13
68,248 73
69,792 51
70,645 05
70,745 86
70,030 14
68,428 49
65,866 58
62,264 92
58,138 43
54,121 12
44,461 74
35,763 62
25,534 53
13,655 63
3,647 10
1,303,483 70
7,721 33
1,295,762 37
17
By which it appears that the interest, on her overpayments of prin¬
cipal, amounts to $1,303,483 70. From this I have deducted $7,721 33,
the interest on the amounts required in 1861 and 1862 to make up
$100,000, which under the law she is now required to pay yearly on
the principal. By adding the net interest on the surplus payment of
each year, to wit : $1,295,762 37, to the amount paid on principal and
interest, as appears by the first tabular statement—it is shown that the
last dollar that this company will ever pay under this bill amounts to
the sum of $16,034,512 65. This includes principal, interest and in¬
terest upon the increased or surplus yearly payments required by this
bill.
In order, Mr. Speaker, to determine whether this Bill is a commuta¬
tion of the tonnage tax, or a mere payment of its existing indebtedness
to the State, it will be necessary for me to present you with another
table, showing the amount now due, the yearly payments required by
law, and the payments on account of principal :
18
DATE.
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
1877
1878
1879
1880
1881
1882
1883
1884
*1885
1886
1887
1888
1889
1890
PAYMENTS
AND AMT'S
§7,300,000 5 per cent
7,200,000
7,100,000
7,000,000
6,900,000
6,800,000
6,700,000
6,600,000
6,500,000
6,400,000
6,300,000
6,200,000
6,100,000
6,000,000
5,900,000
5,800,000
5,700,000
5,600,000
5,500,000
5,400,000
5,300,000
5,200,000
5,100,000
5,000,000
4,900,000
4,800,000
4,700,000
4,600,000
4,500,000
4,400,000 int. to 31
July, 1890
INT. FOR
THE YEAR
PRINCIP L
PAID.
Under act of '67 a change in the amount
of yearly payments is made ; after that
date $1,000,000 is to be paid yearly with
int. as demanded as follows :
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
PRINCIPA! UNPAID,
4,400,000
3,400,000
2,400,000
1,400,000
400,000.
§365,000
360,000
355,000
350,000
345,000
340,000
335,000
330,000
325,000
320,000
315,000
310,000
305,000
300,000
295,000
290,000
285,000
280,000
275,000
270,000
265,000
260,000
255,000
250,000
245,000
240,000
235,000
230,000
225,000
8,555,000
110,000
§100,000
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
2,900,000
4,400,000
TOTAL.
§465,000
460,000
455,000
450,000
445,000
440,000
435,000
430,000
425.000
420^000
415,000
410,000
405,000
400,000
395,000
390,000
385,000
380,000
375,000
370,000
365,000
360,000
355,000
350,000
345,000
340,000
335,000
330,000
325,000
11,455,000
4,510,000
8,665,000
§220,000
170,000
120,000
70,000
20,000
600,000
8,555,000
, 9,155,000
7,300,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
1,000,000
400,000
4,400,000
2,900,000
7,300,000
15,965,000
1,220,000
1,170,000
1,120,000
1,070,000
420,000
5,000,000
11,455,000
16,455,000
19
By this table it is shown that tinder the law as it now is, this com¬
pany is required, or rather will be required to pay, on account of their
indebtedness to the Commonwealth, on the 31st July, 1890, $2,900,000
on account of the principal, and $8,555,000 on account of interest,
making total payments to that date $11,455,000, and leaving a balance
due upon principal of $4,400,000, which, if you will add to the former
payments of principal and interest, makes the aggregate amount to be
paid the State, under the law of 1857, etjual $15,965,000. But un¬
der the Act of 1857, the balance due in 1890 is not to be paid until
1894, payable in yearly instalments of $1,000,000, with interest on prin¬
cipal. The table, therefore, also exhibits the amount, which will be
due the State, principal and interest, in 1894, the time when it is re¬
quired to be paid by the law as it now is.
Assuming, however, for the sake of the argument, that the debt now
due the State was under the Act of 1857 to be paid on the 31st of
July, 1890, by substracting the result in the last table, to wit : $15,965,-
000 from the gross payments proposed to be made by the bill now under
consideration, to wit: $16,034 512 65, you will perceive that the ad¬
vantage to the State amounts to only $69,512 00. This then, Mr.
Speaker, is the result of this high sounding and apparently liberal prop¬
osition to commute the Tonnage Tax. I have stripped it bare, it is no
longer disguised, there is no more deception about it, a fool can under¬
stand it, and a wise man should scorn it. It amounts as a commutation
to just this, and to nothing more, that in thirty years the State can gain
an advantage of $69,512. It can be no more; it may be less. I say
to you, Mr. Speaker, and to every Senator that the proposition is a snare
and a cheat. It is no commutation j it is only an additional Act re¬
quiring this company to do what by the Act of 1857 she is now required
to do, that is to pay the State $7,300,000 which she owes her as the pur¬
chase money of our State works. lie who asserts that this bill proposes
any other consideration for the commutation of a tonnage tax of $300,-
000 per year, than possibly an advantage amounting to $69,512, at the
end of 30 years, is either determined not to understand the facts, or
understanding them is willing to part, Esau-like with this vast and yearly
increasing heritage for a miserable mess of pottage.
I have, Mr. Speaker, already conclusively demonstrated, that the
only possible advantage which the State can gain by this bill over what
she possesses under the Act of 1857, amounts in dollars to $69,512.
It is now my duty to show what she will lose by it. First, sir, we re¬
lease her from the payment of the accrued tonnage tax, amounting,
20
according to tlie last message of Governor Packer, to $700,000. Next,
sir, we will assume that the tonnage tax for the next thirty-four years,
(until 1894,) will amount to $300,000 per year. It is more than that
now, and with the usual and natural progress of the country it will cer¬
tainly not decrease, it heing more likely to double ; but assuming it to be
$300,000 per year, this sum in thirty-four years will make $10,200,000.
I will again assume that a fair commutation would be for this company
vto pay a principal of which $300,000, the tonnage tax, is the interest ;
. this would be six millions, (6,000,000,) and this principal would, added
. to the sum they paid for the main line, to wit, $7,50 0,000, make a
consideration, somewhat approaching its intrinsic and actual value. As,
sir, this bill not only deprives the State of the tonnage tax on the Penn¬
sylvania Railroad, but also on the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt. Joy and
Lancaster Railroad, and on the N orthern Central Railroad, it is neces¬
sary to add these items. Last year the Harrisburg, Portsmouth, Mt.
Joy and Lancaster Railroad paid into the treasury about $35,000. This,
in the period named, would amount to one million one hundred and
ninety thousand dollars, (1,190,000.)
And here, for general information, I must be permitted to remark,
that as this road has lately been leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad
for 999 years, if this Act is passed it will be voting just $35,000 a year
forever into the treasury of the Pennsylvania Railroad, for the simple
reason, that the road when leased, being subject to this tonnage tax, of
course, did not rent for the amount it would have done without it.
Remove it and the lessee, alias the Pennsylvania Railroad, by this asked
for legislation, obtains all the advantage. Rut this is a digression and
I will return to the calculation. The Northern Central Railroad paid
last year about $15,000, which in 34 years will amount to $510,000. I
have prepared a statement which will exhibit the calculation at a glance :
Amount, principal and interest due in 1894, under
the Act of 1857, - - - $16,455,000
Tonnage tax due January, 1861, - - 700,000
Tonnage tax on Pennnsylvania Railroad for 34 years, 10,200,000
Principal of the Tonnage tax say, - - 6,000,000
Tonnage tax on Harrisburg, Portsmouth and Mt. Joy
Railroad, .... - 1,190,000
Tonnage tax on Northern Central Railroad, - 510,000
Total sum which would be due the State in 1894, $35,055,000 00
Deduct amount proposed to be paid under this Act, 16,034,512 65
.Loss to State under this Bill,
$19,020,487 35
21
There you have it, sir. This Bill deprives the State of $19,000,000
in 84 years. And what commutation does this company, by this bill,
offer for this vast sum of money? What great boon is she willing to
give, what proportion does it bear to the benefit and advantage sought ?
In thirty long years it proposes to pay the State not quite seventy
thousand dollars more than she will receive under the Act of 1857.
This is all, sir 1 this is the last dollar she offers as a commutation for
this enormous revenue which will surely flow into our Treasury. How
dare this offer be called a commutation ? Was I not right, sir, in as¬
serting in the beginning of my argument that this bill was wrongly and
falsely called " an Act for the commutation of tonnage duties ?" The
title is a false one. It should be entitled " an Act to rob the State of
nineteen millions of dollars." Every Senator, and every tax payer of
this Commonwealth would then have understood it. It would have
been a bold and honest avowal of real intention. There would have
been much to admire in the assurance of the demand, if there would
have been little to commend in its justice and honesty.
I hold myself fortunate, sir, that I have been able thus to expose,
and hold up to the gaze of this Senate and to the people of the State
the real intention and effect of this bill. If Senators find in it anything
worthy their confidence and support, I appeal from their decision to
that of the honest and overburdened tax payers of Pennsylvania to sup¬
port me in the conclusion, that there is neither right, justice, nor com¬
mutation in it. I will patiently await their verdict. I have always
trusted their honesty and the correctness of their conclusions and there
is no reason why I should doubt or fear it now.
As the preamble sets forth the reasons upon which we are asked to
pass this bill, I have, Mr. Speaker, already trespassed so much upon
your kindness, in the examination and refutation of them, that I fear
you are wearied : but sir, the duty I owe to my constituents and the peo¬
ple of the State requires me, briefly and hastily to investigate some of
the provisions of the bill itself.
By the first section of the bill the company asks to commute—that is
the word, sir—not only its existing debt of $7,800,000, and the tonnage
tax accruing hereafter, but also to be released from the payment of the
tonnage tax now due, say seven hundred thousand dollars. I have already
at length demonstrated the utter falsity of callingit a commutation at all,
and I now only intend to examine the last portion of the proposition.
What right has the company to be repaid, or to retain the tonnage tax
which has heretofore accrued ?
22
The amount, under the laws of the State, was collected by the com¬
pany, as the agent of the State, from persons living along the line and
doing business upon their road. The company therefore holds this
tonnage tax as the agent of the State; in that character it collected it,
and by no other right or authority does it hold it. Once paid to the
company, as the agent of the State, the moneys become the property of
the people of the whole State, just as surely as any other tax which is
collected by tax collectors appointed under the general laws. What
then is the attitude of this company ? It is just that of one of the
county treasurers of the State, who should come here and say, " It is
true, there has been collected fifty thousand dollars State tax in my
county, but as I think State taxes are wrong in principle, and should
not be imposed upon the people, and as it is inconvenient for me to
pay, and as I have been at great trouble and expense in litigating the
right of the State to demand this tax of me, therefore I ask you to pass
an Act to relieve me from its payment." Would this Senate listen to
any such request as this ?—would they for one moment countenance
such dishonesty and assurance? Certainly, assuredly not; and yet
this is the exact, identical position assumed by this corporation. Its
freight agents, as tax collectors of the State, collected this tonnage tax,
paid it to the company as one of the agents of the State, and now, sir,
this agent turns around and coolly asserts that it should not be asked to
pay the money to its principal. And can it be, sir, the cases being
identical, that the corporation shall find advocates and defenders, while
the individual would be denounced as a thief and a defaulter, and be
visited with the severest penalties of the law ? But, sir, I have as yet
not stated the case as strongly as it actually exists. The company has,
under compulsion of law, already paid, by giving her notes at short
dates, as I understand the Attorney General, in his communication to
this body a few days since, a considerable portion of this accrued ton¬
nage tax, say §350,000, into the Treasury, and a portion of it haB
already been used for the necessary purposes of the government.
Therefore, sir, under this last view of the case, the company not only
refuses to pay over the tax still in possession, but by the first section of
the bill she asks to put her hand—nay, sir, her whole arm into the
State Treasury, and abstract therefrom moneys actually paid in ! Was
ever such bold and unblushing assurance before exhibited by individual
or corporation ?
Why does not this company at once ask the State to repay it every
dollar it has ever paid into the treasury since the date of its incorpora-
23
tion ? There would certainly, sir, be as much justice and reason in the
one demand as the other, and possibly advocates might be found to de¬
fend and justify it !
But what ft the excuse offered by the advocates of this present de¬
mand ? Oh ! say they, the company does not propose using this money
for their own benefit, they will generously expend it in completing
some dozen different railroads enumerated in the fourth section of the
bill. These will develop a large portion of the State, and the Common¬
wealth in the increased value of property will be more benefitted than
she would be by retaining the money in the treasury. This as I under¬
stand it is the only justification of the demand. Now let us examine
it. The proposition in brief is that the Pennsylvania railroad company
shall invest in the first mortgage bonds of the railroads named, an
amount in proportion to their respective lengths, sufficient to put upon
them their superstructure, but it is to do this only on condition that if
the said companies shall fail to grade and prepare for the superstructure
at least one section of five miles within one year, and the whole of
their respective roads within three years from the passage of this act,
then the company so in default shall not be entitled to the aid secured
by this act. It has been argued by one well acquainted with these
railroads and with building public works that this offer of assistance is
deceptive, and that from the manner in which it is guarded, it will
never benefit any one of these roads. That it will be impossible for
any one of them to comply with the condition requiring them to have
five miles of track graded within one year, they being bankrupt now.
How this may be I am not prepared to determine, but if these roads are
not now broken down and possess enough life to enable them to com¬
plete five miles of track yearly, the offer made to them in this section is
no great benefit, as it is the universal experience that a road being
graded, without mortgage debt, can readily on first mortgage, which is
the security this company requires, raise money enough to put upon it
the superstructure. I believe, therefore, that the offer to these com¬
panies is no greater benefit than they have it in their power to obtain
from other sources, can they grade their roads.
But, sir, suppose the Pennsylvania Railroad company is obliged to
comply with this stipulation, what then ? Does she present this fund
to these companies, does she propose generously to expend $850,000 for
the purpose of improving certain portions of the State, without hope of
reward or repayment of the amount expended into her Treasury ? Cer¬
tainly, assuredly not, sir. For every dollar she loans, she requires a
24
first mortgage; and when, sir, the just and honest proposition wan of¬
fered to-day, that these bonds, which she will receive as the considera¬
tion of the money belonging to the State, viz : the accrued tonnage
tax, should be paid into our linking fund for the reduction of the
State debt, it was voted down. No, sir, she will never consent to any
such attack on her Treasury ! It is true she makes a Bpecious offer to
assist certain railroads with the money of the State. But, sir, the se¬
curities given for this money, the company demands and claims as liera¬
it is then nothing more, being divested of its disguise, but a proposition
to keep in her treasury for the benefit of her stock-holders seven hun¬
dred thousand dollars belonging to the tax payers of this State. I
challenge any advocate of this bill to deny or contradict this conclusion.
But, sir, this is not all that is intended by this operation. It is well
known that every road which they offer to aid with the money of the
State, connects with this road, and will therefore, on completion,
greatly increase its receipts. Again, sir, suppose any one or all of these
roads, who have mortgaged themselves to this giant corporation, should
fail to pay the interest on this mortgage, and by the bill it is payable
every six months, what will be the inevitable result? It has but tobe
alluded to, to be understood. They will, under a foreclosure of the
mortgage, become the property of the Pennsylvania railroad. We
thus not only allow her to defraud our people of seven hundred thou¬
sand dollars, but with that sum we give her the power to vastly extend
her franchises and become the absolute owner of the dozen railroads
enumerated in the fourth section of this Act. Are Senators willing
thus to increase the already overshadowing power of this company; are
they prepared to place nearly one half of the counties of this Common¬
wealth under her direct management and control? Enlightened
views of public policy, the just fear ever to be entertained of corporate
influence and power, should alone, if there were no other obstacle,
prevent them. The abject condition of a neighboring State, which is
bound hand and foot by a great monopoly, as it is justly called, should
be a warning to them not to be slighted or disregarded. But, sir, can
we do indirectly what, by our oaths to support the Constitution of
Pennsylvania, we are absolutely prohibited from doing directly. Can
we, dare we, appropriate moneys of the State for the purposes of public
improvement—for as surely as this accrued tax belongs to the State,
and as surely as we give it to the Pennsylvania railroad to assist these
different roads, so surely, so truly we do that which the Constitution
directly and positively forbids. I will not, sir, detain the Senate, at this
25
late hour, with the constitutional and legal arguments arising upon this
view of the case. It was fully stated and ably set forth in the speech
of the senior Senator from Allegheny, (Mr. Penney.) He exhausted
the subject. His argument was conclusive and unanswerable, and I
doubt not, will yet be sustained by the highest legal tribunal of our
State. But, say the advocates of this bill, this money is not in the
Treasury and therefore does not belong to the State. Whose fault is
this, sir ? Can this company by its power and influence reverse and
destroy that maxim of the law, as old as the law itself, " That no man
shall take advantage of his own wrong ?" The law applicable to men is
applicable to corporations. Is it possible, sir, that this corporation is
to be permitted to defy courts and juries and the whole legal machinery
of our own State, and after having defied them and having taken writs
of error to the highest tribunal of the land, the Supreme Court of the
United States, and then having withdrawn these writs of error, and
having agreed to pay the amount of the claim in judgment into our
treasury, can it be possible, sir, I say, that after having done all this,
Senators will abet them in their open and shameless rebellion, their
disobedience to law, and in their repudiation of their solemn contract
with the people of this State ! To me, sir, it is an astounding spec¬
tacle that we who should be law makers, should thus become law
breakers. It is rarely, sir, if ever, that such a spectacle has been
presented.
On this floor, sir, it has been rung into my ears, loudly and inces¬
santly, by many of the strongest advocates of this measure, that we
should not treat with men or States with arms in their hands, that we
should enforce the laws and protect the property of the government.
If the doctrine was true then, it is true now. If we should not deal
with men with arms in their hands, why should we deal with a com¬
pany which defies the laws of this State, which resists her authority
and which has seized and now holds her property ? I could wish that
some of thé avowed and determined advocates of coercion on this floor,
had not so soon forgotten their principles, and would apply their doc¬
trines as well to corporations as to States. The property of their own
State might then be defended and preserved ; but it would Reem, sir,
that they are more interested in that belonging to the General Govern¬
ment. Why, sir, I leave others to determine. I am in this matter, for
my own State first, and if their cherished doctrine will preserve her
rights and protect her property, I am and ever will be its hearty
advocate.
26
Again, sir, the reply is made that if it be unconstitutional to vote
this fund out of the treasury, the State will lose nothing. If, sir, her
interests are looked after this may be so ; otherwise it will not, and the
great probabilities are that by some means or other, if we pass this bill
it will be an end of the matter. But, sir, if the friends of this
measure admit that this part of the bill is unconstitutional, and that
eventually the accrued tax must be paid into the treasury, why put this
clause into the bill at all ? What is the motive ? Why enumerate a
dozen railroads running through the wild cat counties of the State and
ask gentlemen who represent them to vote for the Bill under false pre¬
tences ? This is either an effort to take money from the treasury and
misapplying it in open defiance of the Constitution and laws, or else it
is a premeditated snare and a cheat for some one. You may take
either horn of the dilemma. If it be a tub to the whale it is a cheat,
if it is intended to abstract the money from the treasury, it is unconsti¬
tutional and therefore wrong.
I have, Mr. Speaker, during a previous session to-day, in the dis¬
charge of my duties, been obliged to perform an amount of labor,
which added to the effort I am now making, almost incapacitates me
from concluding my remarks. I shall therefore, sir, not pursue the
entire argument I intended to present, nor is it necessary, as in much
of it I have been anticipated by the Senator from Wayne, (Mr. Mott,)
and the senior Senator from Allegheny, (Mr, Penney). But, sir, the
duty I owe to my own convictions and to the great county of Berks,
which I have the honor to represent, required me to say this much.
That county has, sir, as many miles of railroad and canal within her
limits as any other county in this State. They traverse her borders
from north tQ south, from east to west. They are links in the great
chains which connect our inland seas and mountains of coal with our
commercial metropolis, which connect the great and growing west,
with the business mart and centre of the western world—New York !
This State never, sir, aided us, directly, to the extent of one dollar, in
building these grand improvements. On the contrary, sir, when for
years we came to this Legislature asking the poor privilege to exist as
corporations, to build with our own money, unassisted and unaided, the
publio works necessary to develop our agricultural and mineral re¬
sources, it was denied to us. And it was only after years of incessant
effort on our part, and when " free trade" in railroads became the
avowed policy of the State that we were permitted to build our much
needed public improvements. And, sir, during all these long years,
27
when we were praying for nothing more than authority to improve and
develop our .county, we were taxed as we still are, and for generations
yet to come will be, to pay the principal and interest of a debt created
to develop other portions of the State ; to build up the great cities on
the Ohio and on the Delaware ; aye sir, to pay the principal and in¬
terest of the debt created by the erection of the public works, the peo¬
ple of Berks county have been taxed during the last twenty years to
the amount of more than a million and a quarter of dollars, collected
from the broad acres of her honest, hard working yeomanry, and coined
from the sweat of their brows. Is it to be wondered at, sir, that these
honest men, who pay their own debts, and feel the burthen and disgrace
of that weighing upon tfreir State, should instruct and direct me, with¬
out a dissenting voice, to oppose a scheme which proposes to squander
and destroy the fund derived from the sale of those works, to build
which they have been so sorely taxed? I say, sir, is it wonderful that
as one man they should protest against such a measure ? Is it strange
that through me they should demand that this State shall not throw
away a source of revenue which in a few short years, if husbanded and
honestly cared for, will relieve them and their children after them, from
the odious visits of the tax gatherer ? Surely, sir, you do not, nor can
any Senator wonder at this demand. What is it ? Simply that this
corporation shall pay her debt contracted for the purchase of their
works, and this tonnage tax which represents their decreased value and
decreased receipts. Is there anything unfair or unjust in all this, or is
it merely a request that contracts shall be binding and pligbted faith
not be broken. And in asserting this demand, the charge is made that
the people whom I represent, and that I too am illiberal and narrow
minded in my views ; and this charge is not confined to me; it is made
against every Senator who, truly and honestly expressing his own con¬
victions, and the wishes of his constituents, dares oppose and resist the
allurements and blandishments of corporate wealth and power. If to
be"illiberal, is to act upon honest convictions of right and justice, if to
be narrow minded, is fairly and fearlessly to express and carry out the
views and wishes of every man whom I represent, then indeed, am I illib¬
eral and narrow-minded. It is a charge which bears no imputation of dis¬
honor or dishonesty, and therefore I am proud rather than ashamed of it.
But, sir, I must close. I feel that I have hurriedly and impei-fectly
performed a duty which should have been confided to more able hands
and eloquent tongues than mine. Yet, sir, although imperfectly and
hurriedly performed, I know that it has truth and justice for its founda-
28
tion and eternal right for its topmost stone. If, sir, this bill becomes
a law, a betrayed and defrauded people will not fail in their might and
power to execute judgment and to do impartial justice. To that people
I appeal for the rectitude of my motives, and with their verdict I shall
rest content.
I have to thank you, Mr Speaker, and every Senator on this floor,
for the kind attention awarded me. I will trespass upon it no longer.
REPLY TO MR. M°CLURE.
The Senator from Franklin (Mr. McClure,) next made extended
remarks upon the Bill ; in so doing he strongly advocated it3 passage,
and endeavored to refute the positions of the foregoing argument.
The Senator from Berks (Mr. Clymer) in reply said :
Mr. Speaker. The learned Senator from Franklin (Mr. McClure)
has consumed nearly one hour making a smooth harangue, I will not so
distort the fact, as to call it an argument, in reply to a speech which he
asserts was " a frightful monument of blunders." For this " monu¬
ment of blunders" he threatened to hold me to a strict account. In¬
deed, sir, the bold assurance of the Senator made me fear that there was
some error in my exhibit of the case—that I might have been mis¬
taken—that possibly this bill was right, and that I had unwittingly
been doing gross injustice to an honest and deserving corporation.—
I began to think that an argument was about to be made.
But, sir, as he progressed in his harangue, smooth, beautiful and in
dulcet strains—when, as usual, the imaginative Senator wandered from
earth to Ileaven, and spoke of " the beneficent God, nature's God,"
I became composed and reassured. It was the old story, so familiar to
every Senator, that it has long since ceased to excite attention, much
less to induce conviction upon this floor. We have heard it so often,
that to all of us it was as a <{ thrice told tale"—when we heard the be¬
ginning, we knew the conclusion. There may be those within reach
of the Senator's flute-liko voice, who have been enchanted by its low
soft notes—whose ears have been tickled by his flights of fancy, whose
wonder has been excited by volubility and glibness ; if there have
been any such, it is not to be wondered at, as for them it was the first
performance. But, sir, I say to the Senator that his sophistry is as
thin as gossamer, his avoidance of facts is as palpable as it is unfair,
and that his logic is worse than his cause ! He has not failed, sir,
to resort to each and every art known to the accomplished sophist,
by which to hide the utter nakedness of his cause. Assertion, insinu¬
ation, tergiversation and implied intimidation have been his only
weapons of defence or attack. That he used them skillfully, no one
30
who knows the Senator will doubt j still, sir, they are the toy weapons
of a child when brought to combat facts, figures, argument and truth.
They are unworthy of any one, and more especially of any Senator of
Pennsylvania. They may do to excite a passing interest, to draw forth
temporary applause ; but, sir, when the Senator's speech of this night
passes into the history of Pennsylvania, and is examined by unpreju¬
diced minds, it will be pronounced " a frightful monument" of soph¬
istry, erected to perpetuate the character of one man and to conceal
the Unjust designs of one gigantic corporation. Thus much, Mr.
Speaker, for this " monument," as a whole. I shall now proceed to ex¬
amine it in detail.
In some half uttered sentences, and in an ambiguous manner, which
I am free to admit I did not fully comprehend, and which I am con¬
vinced no Senator understood, it was attempted by assertion to deny
that the right of way granted to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
was destroyed by the incorporation of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
I confess, sir, I did not clearly understand the Senator, but surely
his assertions were well calculated, if they were not designed to pro¬
duce that impression. If that was his assertion, I must again refer
him to the Acts of Assembly of 1846. The important sections hate
been read once already to-night, and if the Senator still persists in
his assertion I must again inflict then/upon the Senate. But I trust
the Senator will not deny the existence of the Acts of 1846, although
to him and to this corporation they may be a " frightful monument !"
Mr. M'CLURE. I beg the gentleman's pardon. I never denied it
at all,
Mr. CLYMER. What did the Senator deny ? He denied some¬
thing.
Mr. M'CLURE. What I said I have already explained four times I
shall now explain it for thefifth and last time—positively for the last time.
The gentleman from Berks said that we had lost a vast source of reve¬
nue to this State by chartering the Pennsylvania railroad company ;
that a charter had been granted to certain citizens of another State to
construct a railroad through Pennsylvania which was to pay a tax upon
tonnage and upon passengers. I have not denied it ; but I say this :
that though in 1827 a charter was thus granted to certain parties to
construct a railroad from Baltimore, through Pennsylvania to the West,
that charter imposing a tax upon tonnage and upon passengers, yet,
sir, there was no acceptance of that charter. Subsequently, I believe,
that charter was renewed ; I am not positive, but I think it was re-
81
newed. Nothing had been done under that renewed charter when the
Pennsylvania Railroad company was chartered and constructed ; and if
the Pennsylvania Railroad had not been constructed, I do not know
that this road from Baltimore through Pennsylvania would have been
put into operation ; I have never had any evidence of that ; I do not
know now, that if the Pennsylvania Railroad had not been constructed
until this day, that the other road would have been made ; indeed I
believe, that it would not have been made. The construction of the
Pennsylvania Railroad within a certain time, made that charter, I be¬
lieve, void. Is not that true ? To show how the Legislature of Penn¬
sylvania appreciated the value of the privileges granted in that charter
—how they appreciated this vast source of revenue, of which the Sen¬
ator from Berks has spoken, and which roused him to such energetic
eloquence—the Legislature of Pennsylvania followed that with an Act
of Assembly incorporating a railroad to go over the very same ground
through Pennsylvania to Baltimore, and there was not a word said about
tax, either upon tonnage or upon passengers. To this day, that com¬
pany cannot pay ten cents upon the dollar; and there would not have
been a particle of revenue to the State if such a tax had been imposed.
This anticipation of extensive profit from that right of way is one of the
gentleman's revenue bubbles which I sought to dissolve.
Mr. CLYMER. If the Pennsylvania railroad had not been built,
the Baltimore and Ohio railroad- company, which now exists, would,
instead of going through the State of Maryland, have gone through
the State of Pennsylvania. That was the question.
Mr. M'CLURE. I beg leave to inquire whether it is not true as I
have stated, that that charter stood upon our statute books for years and
years unaccepted by the people of Baltimore or any body else ; that no
person would take it and pay a farthing to the State.
Mr. CLYMER. I will answer the question of the Senator. It is
true that the original charter was granted in 1827 ; but sir, it was
granted in advance of the times or the requirements of the age, and
therefore it expired by limitation ; but when the growth of the coun¬
try east and west demanded the building of a great line to connect the
waters of the Ohio with the Atlantic sea board, the people of the city
of Baltimore and the State of Maryland came to this Legislature and
asked the renewal of the charter of 1827. This request was made in
1816. They well understood and highly prized its value and import¬
ance. They cheerfully offered to pay this State any bonus she might
ask for its renewal. No one of us upon this floor is too young to re-
32
member the intense excitement produced in certain sections of the
State in relation to the question of reviving the grant. It was a " Leg¬
islative war" which has never been equalled, unless when all is over
this present contest should do so. It drove at least one Senator of that
day from his home because he dared to vote for the grant in opposition
to the supposed interests and expressed wishes of his constituents.
These facts every Senator remembers. If, sir, there was nothing valu¬
able in this grant, why in the first place did the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad ask for it, and in the next place why did Philadelphia, with
unrestrained wrath drive from public life a Senator who voted for it ?
Surely, Mr. Speaker, that corporation and that city were not both com¬
posed of insane madmen ! The one to ask for something of no value
and which they did not desire, and the other so to treat a Senator for
voting for a measure which could do no harm ! ! ' No, sir ; corpora¬
tions and cities ever have in them men of foresight, men of common
sense—and the Baltimore and Ohio railroad and the city of Philadel¬
phia at that day were no exception to the rule. The company knew
and appreciated the immense value of her grant. They came to this
Legislature and asked for it in sober earnestness; they fought it
through these Halls with the energy and desperation which the hope
of saving millions ever inspires. In their earnestness and determina¬
tion to succeed, they were more than equaled by the fixed purpose of
Philadelphia, that they should not obtain their charter unless it con¬
tained the germ of its own destruction—and therefore this destruction
of the grant of the right .of way to the Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad,
thus became, and will ever remain, one of the three great considerations
for the imposition of this tonnage toll or duty ; and all the plausibility
and all the sophistry of the Senator from Franklin cannot erase this
fact from the history of the State. The Senator cannot and shall not
mistake or misrepresent it. I have produced it as a part of the record
in this great case, and as-such it shall go to the people of Pennsylvania
freed from the doubts which sophistry and designed misrepresentation
would throw around it. I challenge any man, any Senator, to disprove
or refute it.
But it is alleged that the grant was of no value for the reason that the
Baltimore and Ohio road would never have accepted it, whieh it is pro¬
posed to prove by the fact that this State subsequently chartered a road
(the Connellsville) to occupy the same route, which has never been
built. This is an average specimen of the sophistry of the Senator
from Franklin 1 Why did the Baltimore and Ohio company struggle
83
for the right with desperation if they did not intend to exercise it?
Have they not, since 1846, constructed their iron pathway over the
mountains of Maryland, and is the gentleman ignorant of the fact that
they did so at a cost of more than five millions over the route through
our State ? Has the company not said so in one of its official reports
and would they not gladly forever, have paid at least the interest oí the
increased cost for that right of way ? Surely, therefore, the Senator can
deceive no one by his gratuitous assertion that the Baltimore and Ohio
railroad would never have accepted the grant with the restrictions im¬
posed; but he would support it by referring to the fact that the Con-
nellsville road has not been built, although its charter contains no such
restrictions. Is it wonderful, sir, that the Pennsylvania road being
upon the North and the Baltimore and Ohio on the South, that cap¬
italists should hesitate to invest their money in a road which is to run
between them ? The reasons why the Connellsville road has not been
built, are so apparent that I would not have referred to the matter, but
for the purpose of explaining the desperate shifts to which the Senator
has resorted to sustain his position. Again, Mr. Speaker, the Senator
from Franklin innocently says, " I cannot understand why a ton of
goods must pay a tax when it passes through Lancaster to Philadelphia,
and why it must go free if it passes through the county of Berks." Be¬
fore the eloquent Senator asserted his want of understanding upon this
point, he took occasion to refer in terms of attempted sarcasm, to the
people whom I have the honor to represent. From the tenor of his
remarks it would seem that he entertains some special pique against that
people. What is his cause I am unable to discover ; but I would in¬
form him that they are not dependent upon his good opinion for their
self-respect, nor for the estimation in which they are held by other sec¬
tions of this State. Their history is an honorable and distinguished
portion of the history of Pennsylvania, although it is unquestionably
true, that they are of that stock who, in the words of the Senator, have
never been " radical, reckless innovators "—on the contrary, they are
frugal, industrious, honest and intelligent. They love honesty and ab¬
hor dishonesty. They are just and fearless, brave and prudent. The
type of that race which has done more to make honesty, prudence and
courage, the characteristic traits of this State, than any other element
of population with in her borders. I would to God, sir 1 that all the peo¬
ple of this Commonwealth were of that same stock, and that they were
truly represented in this Legislature. If this were so, I might safely
venture the assertion, that the subject now under discussion would never
34
liave occupied tlie attention of this Senate. But, sir, I have digressed.
I will now proceed to enlighten the Senator, so that forever hereafter
he may understand why " a ton of goods should not be taxed as it passes
through Berks county."
This State never built nor owned one mile of railroad or canal in the
county of Berks ; therefore, the construction of our railroads and canals
never impaired the value or diminished the receipts of those works,
to build which the people of other portions of the State had been taxed.
Again, sir, as the State never owned any public works in Berks
county, we were unable to purchase our improvements of the State at
one-third their cost, as the Pennsylvania railroad did. If, sir, the build¬
ing of the Reading road had reduced the receipts of the State works, or
if the people of the Commonwealth had first been taxed to build that
road and we afterwards had purchased it for one-third its cost, or if in
granting to us the charter to build it, the State had for us thrown away a
grant which would have yielded her treasury hundreds of thousands
yearly, then indeed, Mr. Speaker, should we be taxed, and no honest
man whom I represent would object. But, sir, as we have destroyed
neither the value nor decreased the receipts of the State works, and as
our franchises never cost this State one dollar, the learned Senator from
Franklin, if he is not utterly lost to all sense of justice, to all regard
for fair dealing, should now understand " why a ton of goods must go
free if it passes through the county of Berks." Taxation, sir, is a bur¬
den—a burden on all classes, men and corporations. In the case of the
Pennsylvania railroad, it was a burden, assumed in consideration of
great privileges granted, in consideration of great interests destroyed ;
and as she has never, nor can never restore to us those privileges granted
and those interests which have been destroyed, she has no right, in
justice or reason, to cast this burden off. To do so would be a gross
outrage upon every tax payer of this Commonwealth.
Again, sir,I am asked by the Senator from Franklin, in dulcet tones and
with assumed innocence, "Why the farmer of the western or interior por¬
tion of the State must pay tribute to the treasury to reach a home market,
while the farmers of Berks are untaxed 1 I would ask the learned
Senator when, where and by whom the right was given this corporation
to tax the farmers of the western or interior parts of the State ? Does
he find it in their charter or in any supplement to it ? No, sir, this
company, by their charter, was to pay a toll or duty to the State,
for the benefit of all the people. It was never contemplated by the
Legislature when their charter was granted that this toll or
. duty was to be by some ingenious process, some sharp practice,
35
changed into a tax to be collected from the people. It was
supposed that the company would have paid it, as they could easily
do, and should be compelled to do. For I assert, sir, without fear of
contradiction, that if the corporation has this tender regard for the peo¬
ple along its route, if they really desire to relieve them from this tax as ■
it is now termed, they can easily accomplish that laudable purpose, by
being satisfied with six per cent, interest upon their investment, as you,.
sir, and all other men are forced by law to be satisfied : let them pay
the excess of their earnings over and above six per cent, into the treas¬
ury, it will more than pay the "toll or duty." This odious tax as it is
called, will then be removed from the people and will become what the
Legislature in 1846 intended it should be, a " toll or duty/' to be paid
out of the excess earnings of the company over and above six per cent.
But, sir, why do not the people along the line of this road, for whom
the Senator from Franklin in his tenderness, has uttered such piteous and
mournful lamentations, come here and ask the removal of this " odious
tax f" Why is it that almost every county along the entire route, is
here represented by Senators who not only vote against this bill, but
arc bound so to vote by the solemn and repeated instructions of these
" suffering people f" Does the Senator from Franklin understand their
interests better than they do themselves ? By what right does he ignore
their.instructions, solemn and oft-repeated, to their own representatives ?
It is singular that he, who is not of them, should thus pretend to rep¬
resent them. I assert, sir, that these people have not asked the inter¬
ference of the Senator by petition or otherwise. His labors in their
behalf are unasked and uncalled for, and his lamentations are those of '
an uninvited mourner. When these people feel themselves aggrieved,
they will say so, through their own representatives on this floor, who,,
it is fair to presume, are at least as competent as the Senator from
Franklin to set forth their wrongs and effect their remedy. But, sir,
assuming that the Senator from Franklin is correct in calling it a " tax"
upon the people, then, sir, it cannot possibly be a burden upon the com¬
pany ; and if, as I have shown, these very people do not ask to be relieved,.
where is the necessity for any action on our part? Are we to relieve••
a people who do not ask relief ?
I am glad, sir, to be able to state, that in at least one position, the'
learned Senator admits that I was correct, which is, that by the repeal
of the tonnage tax or duty we will diminish the revenues of the State.
Even he was not too perverse or obtuse to admit this ! On the contrary,
he not only admits, but glories in the fact that by his pretended " com-
36
mutation " vre are to be robbed of many millions, and revels in ecstatic
visions of tbe wealth, the progress, the happiness which this very rob¬
bery is to bring to the people of the State. The conception seemed to
translate the Senator from this rude, tax paying, tax ridden sphere, to
some elysian land, in which golden harvests are ever waving, whose
mountains are of pure gold, where ever upon the ear there falls the
music of ceaseless, endless, prosperity, and where civilization has reached
that exalted condition which heralds the millenium. It was, indeed, a
lovely, beatific vision, vouchsafed only to transcendent genius—to the
highest development of moral and intellectual culture !
But, sir, I failed to appreciate its practical, beneficial result ; I was
unable to understand how this direct loss was to produce 6uch incidental
advantages ; and when, sir, I realized that this dream of the gifted
Senator was to leave us forever subject to the curse of taxation, I felt
that after all it was the raving of an enthusiast and not the teaching o
a statesman. I venture the prediction that this vision will be dispelled
by the sound common sense of the people, as is the mist by the rays of
the rising sun.
The Senator from Franklin accuses me of another and unpardonable
blunder in assuming that the construction of the Pennsylvania Rail¬
road destroyed the value of our main line of improvements, and asserts
that a considerable portion of my argument was based upon this point.
Certainly, 3Ir. Speaker, the Senator must be in error, or he would re¬
member that although I asserted the fact, yet I refrained, for the pur¬
pose of saving the time of the Senate, from enlarging upon it, as the
Senator from Pike, (Mr. Mott), in his able speech of yesterday, had
demonstrated it beyond the possibility of contradiction. I now re-assert
it, basing my assertion upon the facts and figures presented by the Sen¬
ator from Pike ; and if, as the Senator from Franklin states, the facts
are upon the shelves of this Hall to* show that I am in error, or rather
that the Senator from Pike is in error, why has he not taken the trouble
to produce and explain them ? They would have been at least as satis¬
factory as the naked assertion of the Senator from Franklin. But, sir,
as he has not dealt in anything but assertion in his entire harangue, and
as he well understands " that figures will not lie/' he wisely and pru¬
dently adhered to his usual and only method of argument. It may
bring conviction to minds similar to his own, but I tell him that the
people of this State will demand something more than his mere asser¬
tion to disprove and combat the fortified position of the Senator from
Pike. I have, sir, but declared that he was and is correct. It would
37
indeed require superior intelligence to appreciate and subscribe to tbe
bare and unsustained assertion of the Senator from Franklin—an intel¬
ligence brightened and sharpened by some means unknown to legiti¬
mate argument and fair discussion. As, sir, such means have not been
at my disposal, I plead guilty to a want of intelligence such as the Sen¬
ator from Franklin claims to possess. Where he obtained it, or upon
what it is based, I confess that I am entirely ignorant. The Senator
from Franklin exclaimed in expiring energy : " Look at the records,
and the eloquence of the Senator from Berks is forgotten in his want
of intelligence." 1 would, sir, that not only the Senator himself, and
each Senator on this floor, but that also every man in the State, could
and would look at the records ! If they do so, they will not fail to be
convinced of the truth of my declaration, and of the sophistry and per¬
sistent avoidance of facts upon the part of the Senator from Franklin.
I dare him to produce them ! He says they are on the shelves—that
he can lay his hand on them. Why has he not done so ? He avoids
the truth, and thinks that by putting his own light under a bushel he
can thereby produce universal darkness. This course of conduct and
of argument may suit this hour and this occasion, but I tell him the
people will not rely upon his unsustained assertion, when it is clearly
disproved by facts, figures and argument. They will read and decide
for themselves, and to their judgment I appeal with unshaken faith in
its correctness and justice. But, sir, the Senator having failed to refute
the fact3, to disprove the figures I presented, goes into excessive lamen¬
tation for the reason that I alleged that there was a solemn contract be¬
tween this corporation and the State which should not be broken. He
whined over it as though he were inconsolable. I feared that hi3 ex¬
cessive grief would have quite overpowered him j but in the lucid in¬
tervals of his sorrow what reasons did he assign for annulling the con¬
tract ? I thought, sir, that out of his great agony, some drops of reason
and argument would at last appear, but I was again doomed to disap¬
pointment. It was the same story, "because you reduced the toll
from five mills to three—because you relieved us from all tonnage duties
upon coal and lumber, therefore now you must release us without con¬
sideration from a contract which would be worth nineteen millions to
the State in the next thirty-four years/' Or, in other words, Mr.
Speaker, because we have " given them the finger they now demand
the whole hand." Then again the Senator exclaims, with feverish
energy, " that the inexorable laws of trade demand that the contract
shall be abandoned"—that unless we do so the trade of the West will
38
be diverted to the competing lines North and South. I was not aware
before sir, indeed I understood the Senator in the beginning of his
speech expressly to deny that there was any tax, as he is pleased to call
it, upon " through freight." I thought it was all imposed upon the poor
suffering people of this Commonwealth, and that it was for that reason
this generous, kind hearted corporation came here asking that this toll
or duty should be taken off ! Was I mistaken sir ? If I was it would
now appear that we are asked to destroy this contract, not to relieve our
own people, but to enable this corporation to compete with lines North
and South. This then is the "imperious rule" which demands it; for
this reason, in the language of the eloquent and pleading Senator, " we
must declare that here, as in all the world besides, internal commerce
must be free !"
" To what base uses have we come at last." After all the touching,
heart-rending appeals on behalf of our own suffering people, we are now
pathetically informed that it is not alone for them, but to enable this op¬
pressed corporation to compete with other lines that this contract must
be destroyed. But, sir, I am again compelled to correct the assertions
of the Senator from Franklin. There is no toll or duty paid by this
corporation upon " through freight," therefore they on this account are
not prevented from competing with other routes—and that they have
been able to do so successfully is demonstrated by the fact that while
the New York and Erie is bankrupt in the hands of a receiver, and the
Baltimore and Ohio greatly embarrassed, declaring no dividends, this
corporation is growing rioher year by year, declaring large dividends,
although out of her earnings she is constantly making vast and costly
permanent improvements, which are greatly enhancing the intrinsic
value of her stock. If, then, sir, the people along the route do not ask
the passage of this bill, if the corporation itself is successful, rich and
dividend-paying, is there " an imperious rule," do " the inexorable
laws of trade" demand that this contract, so odious to the sensitive
Senator from Franklin, should be destroyed ? Is not the demand based
upon that other rule, an inexorable law with some individuals and all
corporations, " keep all you have and get all you can ?' If the Senator
from Franklin had assigned this as the law which demands that this
solemn contract shall be broken, he wçuld have been entitled to the
thanks of every one for his candor, though we might be unable to perceive
either the justice of the rule, or the necessity for its application.
I have thus, Mr. Speaker, endeavored to examine every objection
urged by the Senator from Franklin against my argument made this
39
night. I have shown to my own satisfaction, and I trust to that of the
Senate, that in no one point has he disproved the correctness of my
premises nor the justness of my conclusions. His every answer wa3 an
evasion, and that he has been unable to refuto any one proposition, has
certainly not been for want of inclination. For truly, Mr. Speaker^
during this entire contest, the Senator has with rare ability and unac¬
countable zeal endeavored to advance the interests of this corporation,
apparently forgetting, in his efforts so to do, that he was sent here to
represent the people and not corporations. He is their avowed and
proclaimed champion ! Wherever the fight is thickest there is seen his
commanding form, ready to give, and if it must be, receive the heaviest
blows. Where crushing charge is made, and the weaker and less de¬
voted followers are about to flee in terror and dismay, there his voice is
raised in tones of encouragement, bidding them remain steadfast to the
end and to fear no danger. *
But, sir, with all his devotion to this Corporation there is at least one
provision in the bill which even his ingenuity, his sophistry, is unable to
justify or defend. It is an exhibition of cool assurance from which
even he shrinks in dismay—so bold and unblushing an attempt to ex¬
tract money from the public treasury that their avowed champion con¬
fesses his inability to defend, though-he is not unwilling by his vote at
least to justify it.
Of course, Mr. Speaker, I refer to the provision in the bill which re¬
lieves the company from the payment of the accrued tonnage tax,
amounting to seven hundred thousand dollars. My curiosity was
greatly excited, to know by what course of reasoning the talented Sena¬
tor would attempt its justification, 'well knowing that if individual or
corporate ingenuity could suggest even the shadow of an excuse for this
premeditated fraud upon the rights of the people, it would surely be ad¬
vanced, But, sir, there is a limit to human ingenuity, a limit to so¬
phistry, a limit to misrepresentation and deception—and this bold de¬
mand, this avowed intention to rob the treasury, is beyond that limit.
It towers aloft in its naked deformity, unsustained and unjustified, with
no one, not even the Senator from Franklin, to approve or defend it I
The future historian will cite this provision of the bill to prove that
in this generation there existed a power which dared openly and boldly
to deplete the treasury. It will prove that the body politic was corrupt
and that corporate power had sapped the vitals of the State.
If there was nothing else in this bill to make it unjust, to render it
forever odious, this one provision is more than sufficient thus to brand
40
it. I warn you, Senators, that no honeyed words, no ingenious explan¬
ations, will ever convince the people that this is other than an open and
deliberate abstraction of their money, a large portion of which is already
in the treasury of the State, and the balance of which will soon be there
also, if you do not prevent it by your own deliberate, action.
The lateness of the hour, and the length of time I have already oc¬
cupied, admonish me, Mr. Speaker, that I dare not much longer trespass
upon that kind attention the Senate has already awarded me. Still, sir,
I cannot resume my seat without replying to that which was of a personal
nature in the speech of the Senator from Franklin. He has charged me
unjustly and gratuitously with having made unfounded assertions and
aspersions against this corporation. I deny, sir, that I have been influ¬
enced by any other than upright motives in all that I have said. As a
Pennsylvanian, I am proud of the magnificent highway built by this
corporation. It is an enduring monument of the energy, enterprise and
skill of its projectors and of those who control it. If, sir, in the exami¬
nation of this question, I have been forced to exhibit figures and state
facts which place this company in an unenviable light, surely it is no
fault of miue. I have refrained from using any harsh or uncalled for
expressions ; if my argument has produced a conviction that such ex¬
pressions might be justifiable, I certainly am not to blame; but he who
asserts that I have used any such expressions, either wilfully or unin¬
tentionally, misrepresents me.
Mr. M'CLURE. I certainly did not charge any such thing upon the
gentleman from Berks.
The Speaker pro tern. (Mr. Lawrence.) The Chairman did not so
understand the gentleman.
Mr. M'CLURE. I did say, in the most respectful terms that, while
I conceded to the Senator from Berks integrity of purpose in his attitude
upon the question, I thought he pandered to the prejudices of the peo¬
ple in a manner unbecoming a Senator on this floor. I meant the re¬
mark not unkindly.
As I do not intend to take the floor again to-night, the Senator will
permit me to say a word in answer to his question as to who it is that is
asking the repeal of this tonnage tax. He seems to think that the effort
for its repeal proceeds merely from men interested in this great corpora¬
tion. Why, sir, I have met hundreds of gentlemen here this winter
making personal appeals for the removal of this tonnage tax, because it
crippled their energies and baffled their efforts toward the development
of our State's resources; and I recognize upon this floor now two gen-
41
tlemen of Pennsylvania, whom I will not, of course, name, as they are
not members of this body, gentlemen who individually pay twenty
thousand dollars in the shape of tonnage tax upon this road. This tax
is imposed upon them, simply because they have the energy and the
capital to go forth and develop the wealth of Pennsylvania. It is such
men that have appealed to Pennsylvania to be just and liberal towardher
sons—toward those who choose to develop her own wealth and make this
great State still greater and still more prosperous than she has been, even
in spite of the illiberality of her policy.
Mr. CLYMER. I understand the Senator correctly. He has reit¬
erated, in his last remarks, an unqualified and ungenerous charge, tie
has accused me of pandering to political prejudice. I scorn the impu¬
tation, I do not need to pander to such prejudices.
Mr. M'CLURE. I do not wish the gentleman to get astounded
again to-night ; but I must say that I certainly have said nothing in
the course of this debate calculated to reflect in the least degree upon
the Senator from Berks, personally. I regret, sir, that prejudices have
been created and fostered in this State against this liberal and wise
measure. Those prejudices have been fostered by politicians ; and I
believe that the Senator (to use a kinder expression, but one which ex¬
presses the same meaning,) bows to what is an imperious error of his
constituents, which demands that he shall not be liberal and just to the
great interests of the State. Certainly I did not design to say anything
which might, even by implication, reflect upon the Senator from Berks.
Mr. CLYMER. I have understood the gentleman to say that pos¬
sibly I am influenced by the fear that if I took a particular position I
might not again occupy a seat upon this floor.
The SPEAKER pro tern., (Mr. Lawrence.) If the Speaker had
understood the Senator from Eranklin to make any such charge, it
would have been the duty of the Chair to correct him. The Chair un¬
derstood the gentleman to make a general charge, not a special one.
Mr. M'CLURE. Surely, sir, I made it general. I spoke of those
who, as I Ihought, yielded to an imperious necessity created by the pre¬
judices of their own people, which forbids them to be liberal and just.
I must insist that the gentleman shall not understand me unkindly.
The SPEAKER pro tern. The Senator from Berks will please ac¬
cept the explanation of the Senator from Eranklin.
Mr. CLYMER. That, sir, is a question upon which I shall decide
hereafter. I have endeavored to make a legitimate and connected ar¬
gument upon this question, but from the frequent interruptions it
42
would seem that there is a fixed design to prevent me from so doing.
What is the motive I leave others to determine.
The SPEAKER. The Chair will not permit the gentleman to be
interrupted again.
Mr. CLYMER. When, sir, the Senator from Eranklin asserts that
I bow to what he is pleased to term an imperious error of my constitu¬
ency which demands that I shall not be liberal and just to the great
interests of the State, he assumes to speak of a matter of which he
knows nothing. And I tell him, further, that he is little acquainted
with the person now addressing this Senate if he for one moment sup¬
poses that he has ever or will ever bow to what he knows to be an er¬
ror—and in this respect I feel assured that I differ, from at least some
within the hearing of my voice. Nor have I, sir, created or fostered
political prejudices against this measure. If such prejudices do exist,
and the Senator from Franklin is nervously alive to the fact, it is the
prejudice which honest men ever entertain and will ever express against
corrupt schemes and their supporters. Perhaps it is to shield himself
from the storm of popular wrath and indignation which will surely follow
the consummation of this unholy and unjust measure, that the Senator
from Franklin implores me and other Senators to allay this "political
prejudiceand to lead our people to what he calls " liberal progress."
Is it for this he entreats us " to combat the prejudices of the ignorant
and the schemes of the reckless ?" I say to him that I will serve in no
such capacity. I am here to represent honest men, men of sound judg¬
ments and upright motives. I have, sir, fearlessly and to the best of my
ability discharged my duty, and I have that most consoling of all re¬
flections, that in the position I have taken on this question, I have
obeyed my own solemn convictions of right and the wishes of every
man whom I represent. If the Senator from Franklin is sustained in
his course by the same reflections, duty honestly performed, a constitu¬
ency honestly and truly represented, he need have no fear that he will
have " to combat the prejudices of the ignorant and the schemes of the
reckless." But, sir, if he is not thus sustained, it is in vain for him to
call upon us to save him from the reproaches of his own conscience or
the denunciations of his own constituency. If, sir, he has done wrong,
they will surely come, though this Senate as one man should stand by
him. lie must meet them unaided and alone. It will then be too late
to call upon us to assist him " to combat the prejudices of the ignorant
and the schemes of the reckless." His opponents, if any, will be the
honest, intelligent people of this State, who will be " thrice armed be¬
cause their cause is just."
43
Yet, sir, to induce me and others to follow him iu a course which he
admits, is disapproved of by the vast majority of the people, he has
pointed us to the career of one who in his day and generation was an
actor in these Halls. He tells us of an old man, past three score years
and ten, who, with undimtned eye and heart still strong in its convictions,
daily wends his way to his seat in the House of Representatives at
Washington. I will yield to no man, in my respect for old age—for
these who are "soon to be gathered to the city of the silent"—and
more especially will I yield to no one, not even to the Senator from
Franklin, in my respect for the commanding ability and brilliant talents
of Thaddeus Stevens, although, sir, I may, and certainly do, differ with
him in my estimate of his character as a legis'lator and a politician. The
Senator from Franklin, in glowing eulogy and highly wrought strains
of eloquence has placed Thaddeus Stevens upon the very pinnacle of
glory as the man who gave this State her public improvements—as a
man who dared combat public opinion, and was ever in advance of his
friends. It is becoming and proper for the Senator from Franklin,
who also represents the county of Adams, to extol and eulogize that vet¬
eran of three score years and ten ; for, sir, it will ever be remembered
that in the county of Adams there is an enduring monument of the de¬
votion of Thaddeus Stevens to public improvements. It is highly prob¬
able, sir, that it was the recollection of this far-famed and never to be
forgotten improvement, upon which the Senator has gazed, if he has
not traveled often, which induced him to hold up its projector for our
admiration and applause ! I I thank the Senator for the taste and wisdom
he has displayed in his selection of an example of men who in their day
and generation were devoted io public improvements. It was most for¬
tunate—most thoughtful ! ! Most men have reason to exclaim, " Save
me from my friends !" But, sir, to increase our admiration and to
compel us all to worship his idol, he has further assured us that in his
day and generation Thaddeus Stevens dared " brave public opinion,
and was ever " in advance of his friends." I could wish that the
Senator had not neglected to refer us to some particular time and pmce
when these traits of true greatness were exhibited. As, sir, I was com¬
pelled to point out his grandest public improvement, the " Tape
Worm," so too am I compelled by the admiring, though forgetful,
Senator, to refer to a particular time when this, his great exemplar, did,
beyond doubt, dare " to combat public opinion," and was then, as
ever, in " advance of bis friends."
Need I remind you, sir, that it was here in this Senate Chamber, du
ring the " Buck Shot War," that this his most daring combat with
44
public opinion took, place, and tbat tben, too, he was most certainly in
advance of his friends, when he hurriedly retreated from this Hall,
through the most convenient aperture, which, according to tradition,
happened, Mr. Speaker, to be the window behind your seat ! !
So much for the great exemplar of the Senator from Franklin. I
sincerely trust that upon some other occasion and in some more appro¬
priate place, he will restore him to that pinnacle of glory and renown
to which he was once raised this evening. It was a labor of love, I doubt
not upon the part of the Senator from Franklin, therefore he will not
complain that he is compelled to perform it again.
I must close. If this bill is right it will bear the test of argument
and examination, and this argument and examination shall not be met
and defeated by plausibility and sophistry, or by sneers and taunts !
Senators if unable to combat facts, figures and argument, should scorn
to resort to mere assertions and unmeaning generalities. They are un¬
worthy the subject or the occasion. My facts and figures, and the ar¬
guments drawn from them, remain unquestioned and unchallenged by
the Senator from Franklin, and until he shows that I am in error, in
fact or in figures, he must stand convicted of attempting to uphold a
cause which will not defend itself, as it surely would do, were the facts
and figures with it.
I have again to thank the Senate for its kindness. I feel that it is
to the importance of the subject under discussion I have been indebted
for your patient attention during this prolonged and fatiguing debate.
On motion of the Senator from Philadelphia, (Mr. SMITH,) the
Senate at 11J o'clock P. M., Adjourned.