NORTH CAROLINA. 



581 



to Paint Rock and to Murphy. The State is 

 to receive $550,000 of these bonds to reimburse 

 it for expenditures made since its purchase of 

 the road in 1875. In case of failure to perform 

 the requirements of the contract, if the State 

 can not or does not choose to enforce specific 

 performance, the entire division from Salisbury 

 to Paint Rock is forfeited to the State, subject 

 only to the lien resting upon it already, and a 

 conditional mortgage which is not due until 

 the road is completed to Murphy. The rail- 

 road when completed to Paint Rock will be 

 worth, it is estimated, $3,000,000. The pur- 

 chasers agree not to discriminate against the 

 cities and towns of North Carolina in the mat- 

 ter of transportation charges, nor favor any 

 towns to the detriment of others. The State 

 agrees to furnish 500 convicts to be employed 

 in the construction of the railroad, for whose 

 labor the syndicate is to pay to the State $125 

 each, or $62,500 altogether, per annum for five 

 years. The Governor had been advised not to 

 call a special session of the Legislature by a 

 majority of the Board of Directors of the West- 

 ern North Carolina Railroad, and by a major- 

 ity of the Board of Internal Improvements. 

 The representatives of the State in Congress 

 favored the acceptance of the proposition of 

 the New York capitalists. It was the first of- 

 fer ever made to take the railroad out of the 

 hands of the State and to complete it with pri- 

 vate capital. The probable cost of the extra 

 session, which need not last over ten days, was 

 estimated at $13,387. The advantages offered 

 to the State by the proposition were the re- 

 lief of the people from $183,000 annual taxa- 

 tion, $59,500 interest on the railroad bonds, 

 $70,000 for material used in the extension of 

 the road, $45,000 for the support of convicts, 

 and $8,500 or more for the expenses of collec- 

 tion, and the rapid completion by the invest- 

 ment of about $4,000,000 of foreign capital of 

 the railroad which was projected nearly thirty 

 years ago, the discharge of the duty and en- 

 gagements of the State to the inhabitants of 

 the western counties, and the development of 

 that valuable mineral region. 



The charter for this railroad was first grant- 

 ed in the session of 1854-'55, and work was 

 begun soon after. It was from the beginning 

 the subject-matter of political discussion, and 

 pledges for its speedy completion have been 

 made by rival political parties in nearly every 

 campaign. Prior to 1868 the State issued 

 bonds for this work to the amount of $4,000,- 

 000; $1,300,000 were paid by counties and 

 private parties ; and the company issued mort- 

 gage bonds for nearly $1,500,000. Before the 

 purchase of the road by the State in 1875 as 

 much as $7,000,000 in cash, including the pro- 

 ceeds of the sale of $6,640,000 of special tax- 

 bonds, had passed through the hands of the 

 officers of the company ; and yet the construc- 

 tion had not advanced beyond Old Fort, in 

 McDowell County. In 1875 the road was sold 

 off at auction, the State bidding it in for $850,- 



000, for which amount 7 per cent, mortgage 

 bonds payable in 1890 were issued, the inter- 

 est being guaranteed and the coupons made re- 

 ceivable for taxes. The road was placed in the 

 hands of a company in 1877, and considerable 

 work has been done since the reorganization, 

 the State providing the materials and a force 

 of convict laborers averaging about 500. The 

 cost to the State up to March 1, 1880, was as 

 follows: for iron, etc., $150,173 ; for in 

 $266,175 ; for support of convicts, $140,031 ; 

 total, $556,379. From estimates prepared by 

 the president of the company, there would be 

 required within two years $220,000 to repair the 

 road between Salisbury and Asheville; $650,- 

 000 would be needed to build and equip the 

 road from Asheville to Painted Post, and $5,- 

 330,000 to construct the Ducktown line ; and 

 the time required to complete both branches 

 under existing laws would be thirty years. The 

 net earnings of the completed portion in 1879 

 were $22,157, not enough to keep the road in 

 repair. 



The General Assembly convened on the 15th 

 of March, and adjourned on the 29th, after a 

 session of thirteen days. The proposition of 

 William J. Best had been submitted before the 

 Governor convened the Assembly in the form 

 of an engrossed bill. A redraft of the propo- 

 sition was prepared and laid before the Legis- 

 lature. In the new bill, besides a clearer state- 

 ment of the terms of the contract, the princi- 

 pal change was a provision that in the case of 

 default on the part of Best and his associates the 

 State may take possession of and build and com- 

 plete the roads as " by law may be directed," 

 instead of the matter being subject to an ar- 

 rangement between the State and Best. The 

 bill passed both Houses on the eleventh day 

 of the session. The principal amendment was 

 one making the $550,000 bonds issued to the 

 State a prior and unconditional lien of the same 

 standing with the existing bonds. Another 

 change was a proviso that the existing laws 

 regarding the construction of the roads with 

 convict-labor should continue in force if the 

 grantees should not commence work within 

 the stipulated two months. Not much general 

 legislation was transacted in the extra session. 

 The tax paid by liquor-dealers was reduced, 

 the road law was amended, and a number of 

 special acts were passed. 



The completion of the contract with the pur- 

 chasers of the Western North Carolina Railroad 

 depended upon the validity of the act of 1879 

 repealing the charter of the Western Division 

 of the railroad, which was alleged to be legis- 

 lation of such nature " as impairs the obliga- 

 tion of contracts " and deprives a person " of 

 his property without due process of law." The 

 question was brought before the United States 

 Supreme Court for adjudication by W. W. Rol- 

 lins, President of the Western Division. The 

 decision was against the latter, the effect being 

 to vest the franchises and property of the West- 

 ern Division, including cash and bonds in the 



