[No. 3.] Commonwealth's portion of fees under the act for printing records court of appeals, ESTIMATE OF THE PROBABLE RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 1,800 00 4,000 00 Dividends on bank stock held by the state and interest on debt due from James river and 624,358 55 180,681 00 $805,039 55 Public guard at Richmond, including the interior guard at the penitentiary, Rent of water from James river and Kanawha company, Repairs of arms, Transportation of arms, Commissioners of the revenue and clerks for examining books, Lunatic hospital at Williamsburg, subject to a deduction for clothing, Lunatic hospital at Staunton, subject to a like deduction, Expense of transporting lunatics to two asylums and supporting them in county jails, Judgments in favour of lieutenants Gay and Brown of the public guard, for extra rations, 1,460 00 1,626 11 8,140 00 Repairs of the capitol, 10,931 01 Repairs of armory, 100 00 Appropriation to revisors of the civil code, 6,000 00 Appropriation to the Southwestern turnpike road, undrawn 1st October last, 70,000 00 For constructing a road from Logan county to Kanawha, For constructing a bridge at Beverley in Randolph county, on the Staunton and Parkersburg 3,000 00 Deficiency in the Fund for internal improvement to meet interest on public debt, 175,000 00 238,178 35 $789,248 79 RECAPITULATION. Balance in the treasury on the 1st October 1846, exclusive of the sum of $167 88, belonging to the Washington monument fund, and exclusive of the specific funds placed under the management of 2nd auditor, 136,758 03 SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT AND MANAGERS TO THE MONONGAHELA NAVIGATION COMPANY, WITH THE ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTS, PRESENTED JANUARY 1847. OFFICERS. President-John B. Butler. Treasurer-Thos. M. Howe. Managers-John Anderson, Thomas Bakewell, Jas. W. Burbridge, Geo. W. Cass, Neville B. Craig, John L. Dawson, William Eichbaum, S. R. Johnston, Jas. K. Moorhead, R. C. Townsend. Secretary-Wm. Bakewell. TO THE STOCKHOLDERS OF THE MONONGAHELA NAVIGATION COMPANY. In presenting this the seventh annual report, the board would take a retrospective view of the affairs of the company, shew what has been accomplished, and refer to what is yet in prospect. An act, "to authorize the governor to incorporate a company to make a lock navigation on the river Monongahela," became a law on the 31st day of March 1836. Under the provisions of this act the company was organized February 10th, 1837, and in the month of April following the services of a competent engineer were engaged; but owing to high waters and the derangement of the monetary concerns of the country at that period, the survey and exploration of the river was deferred until 1838; and on the 17th December of that year, locks and dams Nos. 1 and 2, were placed under contract; and on the 15th of July 1840, locks and dams Nos. 3 and 4, were also allotted to contractors-but owing to the pecuniary embarrassments of the company, the work on the two last mentioned locks was suspended. In the spring of 1841, the failure of the Bank of the United States to pay the second subscription ($ 50,000,) of stock to the company, the inability of the commonwealth at that time to meet her subscription in any other way than by the issue of state bonds, which were disposed of at a ruinous sacrifice, the difficulty and pressure in the money market disabling many subscribers from meeting their engage ments, and a general feeling of opposition, that (strange as it may now appear,) manifested itself along the line of this valuable improvement and deterred many from engaging in its prosecution; such a combination of adverse circumstances entirely overwhelmed the prospects of the company for the time being, and not only caused a suspension of the unfinished portion of the work, being locks and dams Nos. 3 and 4, but so completely shrouded its future prospects, that the board at that time were unable to raise sufficient means to keep in repair dams Nos. 1 and 2, which had been completed and opened for navigation on the 18th of October 1841. During this period of suspension, a serious breach occurred in dam No. 1, which removed more than one hundred feet of the dam and washed out the river bottom, to a depth of nearly forty feet. The work in this dilapidated condition was a nuisance to the navigation, and a source of mortification to its friends; with debts for construction and damages due to contractors and others, (amounting to more than forty thousand dollars,) who were loudly demanding payment. Suits and judgments accumulated against the company, and their personal effects were sold by the sheriff. When in the fall of 1843 the stocks held by the state in all corporations were sold at auction, the stock in this company was purchased by our citizens, and the purchasers made a proposition to complete the work to Brownsville, taking in payment the bonds of the company, payable in ten years after date; the works mortgaged and the tolls pledged to pay-first, expenses and repairs, secondly, old debts, and thirdly, to liquidate the bonds. And to the successful consummation of this arrangement, you are now indebted for this magnificent improvement, which we believe to be equal, if not superior to any artificial navigation in the United States. We have now passed the second year since the completion of the work, and it is gratifying to be able to state, that at no period since the commencement of the undertaking has its prospects been so bright. The amount of tolls received during the present year, shew a great increase of business over that of last year, and must be regarded as an earnest of what is to follow. The trade of the Monongahela valley is rapidly increasing, the banks of the river are fast becoming lined with manufacturing villages, the coal business is just beginning to be developed, and from the great extent of the Ohio and Mississippi valleys, which must receive their main supply from thence, we may expect its continued and rapid increase; [in fact, it is no great stretch of imagination to look forward to a period, when the tolls from coal alone, at the present very low rates, will pay interest on the entire cost of the work.] Another great source of revenue will be the iron trade, when that region of country is reached by the improvement. That part of our state bordering on the Virginia line, and the state of Virginia along the banks of the Cheat and Monongahela rivers, abounds with iron ore and timber; there are several valuable iron works in operation, but the difficulty of reaching a market has prevented a more extensive development of the resources and wealth of this region. The great convenience afforded by our improvement and its complete success, has not been lost upon the enterprising citizens of that portion of the "Old Dominion," and an application is now making to their legislature, to incorporate a company to make a slack-water navigation from the state line to Clarksburgh, a distance of nearly one hundred miles, running through an exceedingly rich and fertile valley; and as this portion of the state has never received any benefit from former expenditures of public moneys, in the way of improvements, it is but fair to presume, that what they now ask will be liberally granted to them, and that the state will subscribe a sufficient amount of stock to put it within the reach of individual enterprise to complete the work. Should this be done, it at once becomes necessary, and it is now important, that our work be completed to the state line; and to accomplish this most desirable object, the efforts of this company should be directed. The great obstacle in the way is the large indebtedness of the company, as follows: The entire cost of the work, including engineering, damages, &c. was Paid, by subscription of stock, Paid bonds issued and outstanding, $497,672 86 246,571 89 231,500 00 12,467 15 The balance, together with the interest on the bonds and debts, has been paid from tolls. Therefore, about one half of the total cost, is a debt still hanging over the company; the progress of liquidation for some years will be slow, as it consumes so large a portion of the receipts to pay interest; but as the principal becomes reduced, and the revenue still increasing, it will work more rapidly; and the board believe, that by the present regular process, seven years receipts will entirely extinguish the debt, if no serious disaster happens to the work. In addition to the present indebtedness of the company, it has become necessary, owing to the great increase of business on pool No. 1, and the fact that the coal boats wait immediately above that lock in great numbers for a freshet, either to extend lock No. 1 to such a length as to be able to pass two pairs of coal boats or to build an entire new lock. One of these alternatives should be adopted to accommodate the trade, and by either we will remedy the present difficulty in passing that lock at low water. Should the first suggestion be adopted, the cost would be about ten thousand dollars, and if a new lock is built it will cost twenty thousand dollars, which will increase the indebtedness of the company to that amount, as the revenues are pledged to the mortgagees for specific purposes and cannot be otherwise used except with their consent. Such being the present financial condition of the company, it would be preposterous in the extreme to think of extending the work to the state line without aid from the citizens by new subscriptions of stock. But why should we not confidently expect such aid? The revenue received this season would fully justify such an investment, for although the work, owing to the causes alluded to in the commencement of this report has cost from one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand dollars more than it would have cost if the company had been in possession of funds to have driven it through from the commencement; yet we find that now in the second year of its operation the net revenue after deducting expenses and repairs is equal to six per cent. on the entire cost. With the prospect of a regular and heavy increase of business, so that we may look forward to our work shortly paying 10 per cent. per annum on the cost. Where then, we ask, could a better investment of money be made? The board would therefore |