from the interior to the seaboard cities, which would be impracticable by the other routes.

If we should have a war with Great Britain, the routes by the Gulf and the lakes would be closed to commerce, and the railroads would be insufficient to carry the additional freight that would be thrown upon them. There would then be no avenue by which the products of the west could be carried to the Atlantic cities. The consequences would be a scarcity of provisions, high prices, and great suffering in the east, and no market, no money, and general dissatisfaction and depression in the west.

A new water route is therefore indispensably necessary, and is demanded as much for the interests of the eastern as of the western states, and indeed for the whole country.

It is estimated that the exportation of cereals from the states in the valley of the Mississippi, that would use the Virginia water line, if their increased production is not checked by want of transportation, will, in 1880, amount to five hundred million bushels. Of this crop, the Virginia canal, if constructed on the scale now proposed, could carry two million bushels at a saving of thirty cents per bushel on the present prices, which would be a saving of sixty million dollars per annum, on a part of the crop. But competition produced by the opening of this line would have the effect of cheapening transportation on all other lines, and if the saving by the use of this line should be only ten cents in the bushel on the whole crop, it would amount to fifty million dollars annually, which is more than the estimated cost of the work. There can not, therefore, be a shadow of a doubt that this work would pay for itself in one year, by the cheapening of transportation on grain alone, because, although the Virginia canal would be inadequate to carry the whole surplus product of the west; still the effect of its construction would be to cheapen transportation on other lines, at least ten cents in the bushel, and therefore, would affect the whole grain crop of the west to the amount stated, and put that much money in the pockets of the farmers.

The question of cheap food is one of vital importance to the eastern states. Cheap food makes cheap labor, which is the foundation of the success of manufactures. High prices of food cause a demand for higher prices for labor, strikes among the operatives, interruptions to business, and general distress and loss in manufacturing communities.

Cheap transportation would have the effect of reducing the price of provisions, and would thereby benefit the manufacturers of the east as much as it would the farmers of the west.

The people of the east are interested in this work in another way. Its construction would develop the inexhaustible mines of the Kanawha valley, and would throw into the markets of the east the best cannel,

splint, and bituminous coals; and if the canal should be thrown open free of toll, these coals could be sent from the Kanawha valley to New York at a less price than the Cumberland and Pennsylvania coals.

The development of this coal and of the immense beds of iron ore of East and West Virginia, in close proximity to each other, and on the very border of the canal and of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, would open up a new and boundless field for the enterprise and mechanical skill of the whole country.

The immense trade that would be thrown on the canal and the railroad by the development of this almost virgin country, and by the opening of a cheaper line of communication with the west, and which would seek a market through the capes of Virginia, would revive and give a new impetus to the commercial and shipping interests of the eastern cities.

Thus the agricultural interests of the west, the manufacturing and commercial interests of the east, and the defensive capacity of the country will be promoted by the opening of the Virginia water line, and it is for these reasons that Virginia and West Virginia, unable to finish this work, ask the aid of the government in completing this grand improvement, which appears to be so necessary for the prosperity, progress and power of the whole country.

The estimated cost of the work is forty million dollars, and it is confidently believed that it can be completed in four years.

It is respectfully asked that the Congress of the United States shall in such way as may seem to them best, either by direct appropriation or by a loan of the credit of the government, furnish the means for executing the work in four years.

On her part, the state of Virginia will willingly relinquish all of her interest in the work, which is represented by more than ten million dollars, of which seven million four hundred thousand dollars is preferred stock, money actually expended in prosecuting the work to Buckhannon, and will turn the work over to the government to be completed in such manner as congress may direct.

If Congress shall see fit to complete the work by direct appropriation, without a return of principal and interest, Virginia will further agree that the water line, as soon as completed, shall be thrown open to the public, free of toll, except so far as may be necessary to keep the road in repair. This suggestion is made with the broad view that it is a work in which the whole nation will be the stockholders, and that the money paid for its construction will be more than returned every year, principal and interest, in the saving of the cost of transportation, the cheapening of provisions, and the general development and prosperity of the country.

But if this view should not prevail, it is not doubted that the money advanced by the government could be speedily returned, both principal

and interest, from the revenues derived from tolls, and when that shall have been done, then the state will consent that the water line shåll forever be a public highway, free of toll, except for purposes of repair.

The state of West Virginia will agree that the work shall be prosecuted, either under the management of the present company, subject to such regulations and restrictions as Congress may impose, or by commissioners appointed by the states of Virginia and West Virginia, who will hold the property as a sacred trust, for the benefit of the whole country; or that the prosecution of the work and the management of the property, when it shall have been completed, shall be committed to a board of eleven trustees, one of whom shall be appointed by the President of the United States, and one each by the states of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland, as recommended by the National Board of Trade, at its annual session in December last; or in any other way in which its construction and management will best promote the prosperity and welfare of the whole country; therefore,

Resolved, That our senators in Congress be instructed, and our representatives be requested to use their best efforts to obtain such aid from the general government as will secure the early completion of said line of water communication.

2. That the general assembly of the state of Virginia be and they are hereby respectfully requested to present to the congress of the United States a similar memorial, and, by resolution, request their representatives and instruct their senators to sustain the improvement or water line described in the foregoing memorial, in the manner and to the extent therein proposed.

3. That a copy of these resolutions and the accompanying memorial be forwarded by the secretary of state to the President of the United States, President of the Senate, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and to each of our representatives and senators in the Congress of the United States.

ADOPTED February 23, 1870.

[No. 29.] Joint Resolution authorizing the Auditor to place a certain sum of money to the credit of John Alford, late Sheriff of Cabell county.

WHEREAS, It appears that the auditor of this state put into the hands of John Alford, former sheriff of Cabell county, certain tax tickets, amounting to four hundred and ninety dollars and eighty cents, which had been returned by John B. Baumgardner, collector of said county, as delinquent; and

WHEREAS, It appears that instead of being delinquent, said Baumgardner had collected the same; therefore,

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That the auditor is hereby authorized to credit said John Alford the said sum of four hundred and ninety dollars and eighty cents, on his account with the state as sheriff aforesaid, for the years eighteen hundred and sixty-one and eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and charge the same to the said J. B. Baungardner.

ADOPTED February 25, 1870.

[No. 30.] Joint Resolution concerning the trial of Nathaniel Harrison, Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit.

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That the parties who preferred the charges against Nathaniel Harrison, judge of the seventh circuit, be permitted, upon the trial of said Harrison, in person or by counsel, to appear for the prosecution of the charges aforesaid.

2. That such persons, or their counsel, shall be permitted to introduce and examine the testimony, and in all respects to conduct said trial against said Harrison.

3. That no person shall be permitted to speak more than ten minutes on any motion or question of law or evidence connected with said trial, unless the session shall be extended for the trial aforesaid; provided, that both the counsel for the prosecution and defense, shall each have three hours in which to argue the case at the close of the testimony.

4. That House joint resolution number twenty-two be so modified as that, on any question arising in connection with or during the progress of said trial, and until the final question be taken, the vote of the respective bodies may be taken in the hall of the House of Delegates, without the necessity of senators withdrawing to their chamber for the purpose of voting.

ADOPTED February 28, 1870.

[No. 31.] Joint Resolution extending the powers of the Joint Special Committee to investigate alleged discriminations on freight and passengers by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That the joint special committee appointed under House joint resolution number eighteen of the present session, to investigate alleged discriminations against citizens of this state by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, in charges for freight and passengers, have power to sit after the adjournment of the legisla

ture, at such place and time as the committee may determine. The said committee, if they deem it necessary so to do, may employ a clerk. Four of said committee shall constitute a quorum. The said committee shall report to the next regular session of the legislature.

ADOPTED February 28, 1870.

[No. 32.] Joint Resolution proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the State.

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, The following is proposed as an amendment to the constitution of this state, to be substituted for section one of article three thereof, and to become part of the said constitution, when ratified according to the provisions thereof, namely:

"The male citizens of the state shall be entitled to vote at all elections held within the election districts in which they respectively reside; but no person who is a minor, or of unsound mind, or a pauper, or who is under conviction of treason, felony, or bribery in an election, or who has not been a resident of the state for one year, and of the county in which he offers to vote for thirty days next preceding such offer, shall be permitted to vote while such disability continues."

ADOPTED February 28, 1870.

[No. 33.] Joint Resolution raising a Joint Committee to confer with the Commissioners appointed by the State of Virginia, to adjust the Publie Debt with the State of West Virginia.

WHEREAS, The state of Virginia, by act approved February the eighteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy, provided for the appointment of three commissioners to treat with the authorities of the state of West Virginia upon the subject of a proper adjustment of the public debt of the state of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, The governor by a communication dated February twentyfourth, eighteen hundred and seventy, notified the legislature of the passage of the above recited act; and

WHEREAS, The governor on the twenty-eighth of February, eighteen hundred and seventy, notified the legislature that said commissioners, on the part of Virginia, had been appointed, and are now in the city of Wheeling for the purpose of carrying said act, above recited, into effect, therefore,

Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, That a joint committee of two upon the part of the Senate and three upon the part of the House of Delegates, be appointed by the presiding officers of their respective