The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956 Page: 366
587 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
"a copious source of national wealth and prosperity."" His oppo-
sition to the company was based on the premise that it consti-
tuted a monopoly:
... since there are no general provisions in the charter of this
company, defining the exact amount of real estate which they may
hold: defining the exact number of Rail Roads or Canals they may
construct; defining the exact number of vessels they may employ,
we consider the institution a monopoly, and believing that its charter
conflicts with the seventeenth section of the Declaration of Rights,
which declares that Monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free
government, and shall not be allowed, we shall oppose this corpora-
tion to the upmost extremity, and while its charter retains its present
odious features, we shall incessantly labor to accomplish its de-
struction.12
It was the banking privileges, however, that created the greater
amount of opposition. No limit was fixed to the amount of cir-
culating notes the company might issue and the only provision
for their security or redemption was a clause which made the
assets of the company liable for their payment. It was provided
further that the notes were to bear interest at the rate of ten per
cent from the date of protest until they were fully paid. It is more
than likely, as one writer has suggested,18 that the promoters of
the company "felt the unpopularity of financial institutions, cur-
rent as a result of Andrew Jackson's policy," and "made expedient
their subordinating their financial ambition to the more popular
promotion of transportation facilities." All future charters granted
to railroad companies during the period of the Republic con-
tained a non-banking clause, to wit: "Be it further enacted, that
this act shall not be construed as to permit banking privileges
in any form whatever."
In defense of the Congress which granted the charter it should
be noted that the government of the new Republic was in dire
need of money. When Sam Houston was inaugurated as first
president on October 3, 1836, he found not only an empty treas-
ury but also a national debt of more than a million and a quarter
x1Andrew Forest Muir, "Railroad Enterprise in Texas, 1836-1841," Southwestern
Historical Quarterly, XLVII, 343.
12Telegraph and Texas Register (Houston), July 29, 1837.
SlMuir, "Railroad Enterprises in Texas, 1836-1841," Southwestern Historical Quar-
terly, XLVII, s89.366
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 59, July 1955 - April, 1956, periodical, 1956; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101162/m1/392/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.