Obstacles, it has been said, will appear to prevent a sale, in the shape of claims to the ground upon which the roads are located. The grants are said to be made to and for the use of the people of the state alone, so far as they have been obtained, and that in many instances no conveyances of the right of way have been made. It is also said that if a company obtains possession of the roads, heavy damages will in some cases be claimed-in others the right of way will not be released on any terms-and all these obstacles to a sale are interposed by whom? By the very men who have been most benefitted by the expenditures made by the state on her works of internal improvement. On the line of those roads, towns and villages have sprang into existence as it by the touch of the enchanter's wand, where but a little time since the wild forests echoed only to the lonely tread of the hunter, are seen the rich fields of the husbandman; bustle, activity · and enterprise are the characteristics of the settlers of this newly developed region-a few years since deprived of an outlet for the products of the soil, the inhabitants of the interior now find themselves brought near to a market--and notwithstanding the benefits thus conferred by the appropriations made from the funds of the state, now, when the people of the state are about to be taxed for the payment of the interest on the debt thus made-obstacles are thrown in the way of relief. It cannot be that such will be the action of those who have obtained so many advantages. We are unwilling to believe it; and will not, until compelled to do so. If the agents of the state have failed to abtain such releases as can be available, if for any reason such releases could not be obtained, it does not follow that no expedient is lek.

Your committee believe in the sovereign right of this state to grant the right of way to any company of individuals, when such. grant will be (us in this case it must be) for the public good-such grant will of course be subject to the right of individuals to claim ccmpensation for "private property taken for public use;" and in all cases where that compensation has once been made, or a release granted, (as in all cases it should have been) it would seem that the owner would hardly be justified in again demanding compensation for the same right of way, merely because it changes hands from the people to individuals.

But your committee believe that by placing proper guards and restrictions around an act of incorporation, the advantages, to this favored portion of the people of the state would, by a sale of the roads, be increased rather than diminished. It is well known, that they would be conducted with much more economy by individuals than by the state, and that the tolls might be greatly lessened by the prudence of individual operators, whose interest would lead them to improve the roads, and carry all the produce of the country if possible. Now, the state is unable to carry upon its roads as cheaply as it can be done by teams. Not so would it be with a company. Their interest will oblige them to solicit the patronage of the people along the whole route; and to do this, they will speedily reduce the price of freight, and such provisions might be contained in a charter as would tend to relieve from the present high prices of transportation. Again, should these roads go into the hands of companies, they would require an immediate expenditure of a large amount of money to place them in the best possible condition to perform the business of the country. This amount of money would tend still more to fertilize the fair plains of this favored portion of the state-it would all be expended upon the line of the roads, and would find its resting place in the pockets of the people.

All this the state is unable to do without sinking herself more deeply in debt, and leading to absolute insolvency; or worse than that-to repudiation. Individuals may manage and conduct these roads, as experience in other states has demonstrated, profitably; but a government, as our experience has taught us, can never accomplish that species of work for which it never wes intended. Much has been said about long sessions and the expenses of the legislature. These arise, in no small degree, from the necessary legislation about our works of internal improvement, especially the many varied acts and resolutions required to keep in operation the Railroads, and support the financial condition of the internal improvement fund. Sell the roads, and the cause for one-half the legislation of the state is gone.

There is another view of this case which presents itself in a forcible manner to the minds of your committee: A sale of the Roads would tend to relieve the state from embarrassment, and the stain

which she has hitherto borne of a bankrupt state, may thus be removed.

Situated between two great lakes, the waters of which are connected together, and almost surround her peninsula portion, coming in competition, as she does with her worthy sister states, and the territories of the Union, and having, as she long has had, the name of a state burdened with debt and oppressed with taxation, Michigan has been passed by by the immigrant who sought a shelter and a home amid the praries or the plains of the far west. Relieve her from the burden of her debt, and she would rise again buoyant as in her youth, vigorous and strong in the undeveloped resources of her internal wealth. The tide of immigration would again flow upon her borders -the industry and enterprize of the hardy pioneer would again cause her untenanted wilds to echo with the sound of the axe,and the cheerful laugh of her busy sons would be again heard far along the plains and praries of the Peninsula of the Lakes.

Looking, then, upon the sale of the roads as a relief measure, tending to obviate the necessity of imposing a higher state tax, and one which to the people of this State, would be well nigh insupportable; believing that the management of the affairs, and conducting the business of transportation, is not within the legitimate sphere of action of a republican form of government, and is in its tendency corrupting to our institutions—believing, too, that with proper guards and restrictions thrown around an act of incorporation, no injury can accrue to those sections of the State through which the roads are established, or to the people at large, by a safe of the roads to a company or companies of individuals, but on the contrary, that such companies would expend upon the lines of the roads a large amount of money, which would add to the wealth of the State, that their interest would lead them to cultivate the good wishes of the people along the routes, and would tend to an immediate reduction of tolls and other advantages tending to the mutual benefit of all concerned-feeling, as we do, disinclined to believe that there are any serious impediments in the way of a sale, or that obstacles will by any considerable portion of reflecting minds, be thrown in the way, and feeling satisfied that by the proposed course of action, a vast amount of unnecessary legislation will be saved to the State, and the prosperity and happiness of the people

greatly enhanced, your committee are of the opinion that measures should be taken with as little delay as possible, to effect a sale of the Southern and Central Railroads, and recommend the passage of suitable acts of incorporation.

And your committee ask to be discharged from the further consid eration of the propriety of a sale of the public works.

WM. M. FENTON.

January 23, 1846.

1846.

No. 9.

Report of the Finance Committee.

Mr. Hale, from the Committee on Finance, submitted the following report:

The Committee on Finance, to whom was referred that portion of the Governor's message relating to the finances of the state and the sale of the public works, together with the reports of the Auditor General and State Treasurer, beg leave to submit the following report:

In discharging the duties imposed upon them, yonr committee have directed their attention chiefly to a consideration of the following points:

First. The indebtedness of the state:

Second. Its means of meeting this indebtedness:

Third, The financial policy, proper to be adopted to relieve the state from its embarrassments.

That the state has long been struggling under embarrassments, and has failed year after year to meet its engagements, are generally understood, but your committee apprehend that the magnitude and extent of those embarrassments have never as yet been fully appreciated. The idea has been quite prevalent, that the difficulties under which the state has been laboring for a period of about five years, are only temporary embarrassments, easily removed or overcome, by husbanding the growing resources of the state, and by adhering to a wise, faithful and economical administration of its affairs. A resort to taxation as a mode of relief, has never been seriously contemplated, for it has not been supposed, that the exigencies of the state would require it. These erroneous impressions have, perhaps arisen, not so much from a want of accurate information in regard to the debt of the state, as from inattention to its rapid accumulation, and from an exaggerated estimate of the resources of the state, especially of that portion of them, arising from the proceeds of the public works. The influence of these false impressions may be seen in the action of past legislatures. It led to the adoption of a system of financial policy, which, if not the