i/««ARy 
 
 UNIVEWITVofiUl.o,, 
 
 URSANA 
 
 ADDRESS, 
 
 RESOLUTIONS & PROCEEDINGS 
 
 OP TH* 
 
 HELD AT 
 
 TRENTON, N. J., JAN. 22d, 1868, 
 
 TO OT*3E»OS1S3 
 
 The Extension of the Monopoly Privileges 
 
 OP THE 
 
 Camden & Amboy Railroad Co. 
 
 And to Secure the Passage of a General 
 Railroad Law. 
 
In a letter from President Johnson, expressing his views 
 upon the subject of monopolies, he refers to parts of his An- 
 nual Message to first Session, 39th Congress, on pages 15 and 
 16, as follows : 
 
 “ Our Government springs from and was made for the peo- 
 ple — not the people for the Government. To them it owes 
 allegiance ; from them it must derive its courage, strength 
 and wisdom. But, while the government is thus hound to 
 defer to the people, from whom it derives its existence, it 
 should, from the very consideration of its origin, he strong in 
 its power of resistance to the establishment of inequalities. 
 Monopolies, perpetuities, and class legislation are contrary to 
 the genius of free government, and ought not to be allowed. 
 Here, there is no room for favored classes or monopolies; the 
 principle of our Government is that of equal laws and free- 
 dom of industry. Wherever monopoly attains a foothold, it 
 it is sure to be a source of danger, discord and trouble. We 
 shall but fulfil our duties as legislators by according “ equal 
 and exact justice to all men,” special privileges to none. The 
 Government is subordinate to the people ; but as the agent 
 and representative of the people, it must be held superior to 
 monopolies, which, in themselves, ought never to be granted, 
 and which, where they exist, must be subordinate and yield to 
 the Government. 
 
 The Constitution confers on Consjress the. right to regulate 
 commerce among the several States. It is of the first neces- 
 sity, for the maintenance of the Union, that that commerce 
 should be free and unobstructed. No State can be justified in 
 any device to tax the transit of travel and commerce between 
 States. The position of many States is such that, if they were 
 allowed to take advantage of it for purposes of local revenue, 
 the commerce between States might be injuriously burdened, 
 or even virtually prohibited. It is best, while the country is 
 still young, and while the tendency of dangerous monopolies 
 of this kind is still feeble, to use the power of Congress so as 
 to prevent any selfish impediment to the free circulation of 
 men and merchandise. A tax on travel and merchandise, in 
 their transit, constitutes one of the worst forms of monopoly, 
 and the evil is increased if coupled with a denial of the choice 
 of route. When the vast extent of our country is considered, 
 it is plain that every obstacle to the free circulation of com- 
 merce between the States ought to be sternly guarded against 
 by appropriate legislation, within the limits of the Constitu- 
 tion.” 
 
Proceedings of the Conventioa 
 
 Pursuant to a call, issued by citizens representing most of the 
 Counties in the State of New Jersey, to form an anti-Monopoly 
 Organization, delegates representing all sections of the State 
 met at Taylor’s Hall in the City of Trenton, January 22, 1868. 
 
 The meeting was called to order by Rowland Johnson, of 
 Essex. On motion. Dr. Thos. G. Chattle, of Monmouth, took 
 the Chair, and Mr. G. W. Hancock, of Camden, was appointed 
 Secretary. 
 
 The call for the meeting was then read, after which the Rev. 
 Mr. Petrie, of Ocean, opened the proceedings with prayer. * 
 
 On motion, it was then resolved, that a Committee of seven 
 be appointed on permanent organization, whereupon, the chair 
 appointife the following : 
 
 S. B. Nichols, of Atlantic County, 
 
 John A. Morford, of Monmouth, 
 
 Robert Campbell, of Ocean, 
 
 WooLMAN Stokes, of Monmouth, 
 
 Wm. Parry, of Burlington, 
 
 ' R. J. Byrnes, of Atlantic, 
 
 Geo. W. Hancock, of Camden. 
 
 On motion, it was also resolved, that a Committee of five be 
 appointed to report an Address. The following named gentle- 
 men were appointed by the chairman : S. B. Nichols, Robert 
 Campbell, Rowland Johnson, F. B. Chetwood, John A. Morford. 
 
 On motion, it, was resolved, that the chair appoint five gentle- 
 men to prepare resolutions, and the following were appointed: 
 Dr. I. P. Trimble, John Buckingham, 
 
 John Torrey, Jr., Wm. Parry, 
 
 A. S. Meyrick. 
 
 Mr. Potts, of Morris, was then introduced, and addressed 
 the meeting. 
 
4 
 
 The Committee on Permanent Organization, returning, re- 
 ported in favor of the following officers of the Convention, 
 which was adopted, viz. : 
 
 For President, Dr. James H. Patterson, of Shrewsbury, 
 Monmouth Co. 
 
 FOB vice-presidents: 
 
 A. P. Stanton, Ocean County, 
 
 Woodman Stokes, Monmouth County, 
 
 Wm. Parry, Burlington “ 
 
 R. J. Byrnes, Atlantic “ 
 
 James A. Yates, Mercer 
 Robert M. Hening, Essex “ 
 
 ’ J. M. Hannah, Salem “ 
 
 Enos W. Runyon, Union “ 
 
 Charles Wehle, Hudson “ 
 
 John Rutherford, Sussex “ • 
 
 Chas. B. Moore, Somerset “ 
 
 E. A. Stansbury, Passaic “ 
 
 Joseph C. Potts, Morris “ 
 
 A. S. Meyrick, Middlesex “ 
 
 David S. Brown, Camden “ 
 
 W. D. Cook, Cumberland “ 
 
 FOR secretaries : 
 
 W. S. Eaton, Monmouth County, 
 
 H. L. Bonsall, Camden “ 
 
 Z. K.'Pangborn, Hudson County, 
 
 B. C. Potts, Morris “ 
 
 Patrick Clark, Union “ 
 
 A resolution was adopted, that all the officers elected, be 
 considered pledged when taking their seats, to carry out the 
 purposes contained in the call for this Convention. 
 
 Addresses were made by Rowland Johnson, of Essex, ad 
 Mr. Clark, of Union County. 
 
 After which meeting adjourned to 2 p.ivl 
 
 GEO. W. HANCOCK, Secretary. 
 
5 
 
 On re-assembling at 2 p.m., the meeting was presided over 
 by the temporary chairman, Dr. Thos. G. Chattle, of Monmouth 
 Co., while the Committee waiting upon Dr. J. H. Patterson, 
 President elect were absent, the gentlemen elected Vice-Presi- 
 dents and the Secretaries took their seats. 
 
 After which, the temporary chairman retiring. Dr. Jas. H. 
 Patterson, of Shrewsbury, Monmouth Co., took the chair, 
 thanking the Convention for the honor of being called to pre- 
 side over their deliberations, and identifying himself with 
 this movement, as one where the honor and good name of 
 the State of New Jersey were most vitally concerned. 
 
 The Address and Resolutions were reported by Committee, 
 read, and on motion, unanimously adopted. • 
 
 Short addresses were made by Hon. John A. Morford and 
 Francis Leonard, of Monmouth, in favor of the passage of a 
 General Railroad Law, whereby the State should be opened to 
 competition in Railways, and lower fares and freights prevail. 
 
 Dr. Isaac P. Trimble, of Essex, offered the following reso- 
 lution, which on motion was adopted, viz. : 
 
 Resolved, that the recent attempt by certain monopoly 
 managers to get possession of the Newark and New York 
 Railroad, first by offers of enormous bribes to corrupt a ma- 
 jority of the directors, and then by fraud to procure a con- 
 trolling amount of the stock, shows unmistakably that Camden 
 and Amboy does not yet intend that railroads shall be made 
 in any part of New Jersey, in opposition to their wishes. 
 
 Dr. Trimble spoke in connection with this resolution of the 
 enormous amounts offered to bribe these gentlemen, prominent 
 among whom was the President of the road, who was named 
 as having refused |100,000 ; also of $66,000 being refused by 
 one of the directors for a similar purpose. 
 
 Other gentlemen followed, Mr. Butterworth, of Trenton, 
 making the following statement of exorbitant freight charges 
 
6 
 
 of Camden and Amboy Railroad Company. He held in his hand 
 a freight bill just paid to that Company, for freight on wool 
 from Philadelphia to Trenton, and comparing with rates of 
 freight from Chicago, the charges were seven times in excess. 
 
 Rowland Johnson stated, that the Camden and Amboy Com- 
 pany spent $200,000 to elect the present legislature. 
 
 Remarks were made by Rev. Mr. Given, Chaplain, in the 
 U. S. Navy; Major Z. K. Pangborn, of Hudson; Jas. M. 
 Scovel, of Camden, and Major Geo. B. Halsted, of Essex. 
 
 Letters from Wm. Cullen Bryant, Horace Greeley and 
 others were read, sympathizing with the objects of the Con- 
 vention. 
 
 The President of the Convention stated, that at the earliest 
 practicable moment ^he would, in accordance with the re- 
 solution adopted, appoint State Executive Committee. Motion 
 to print 10,000 copies of address and resolutions, was referred 
 to said Executive Committee for their action. 
 
 John Torrey, Jr., of Ocean Co., olfered resolutions with 
 reference to the formation of the New Jersey Free Railroad 
 Club, which on motion were referred to Executive Committee, 
 with power. 
 
 The subject of establishing an organ for the dissemination 
 of anti-monopoly views, was also referred to Executive Com- 
 mittee. The Convention was characterized throughout by the 
 utmost enthusiasm, being a movement of the people for the 
 protection of their own reserved and most sacred rights. 
 
 Adjourned subject to the call of the Executive Committee. 
 
 WM. S. EATON, Secretary. 
 
 Taylor’s Hall, Trenton, ) 
 
 January, 22, 1868. ) 
 
To the People of the State of New Jersey. 
 
 Felloic Citizens: 
 
 In the year 1830, your representatives in the legislature 
 passed two laws : one incorporating the Camden and Amboy 
 Railroad and Transportation Company, with a capital of a 
 million and a half of dollars, and the other incorporating the 
 Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, with a like amount of 
 capital. These two at the time of their passage, were rival 
 schemes. N either of them had the approbation, standing 
 alone, of the majority of the members of the Legislature, and 
 they only became laAvs by a bargain entered into between 
 their respective supporters by which the bills were log-rolled 
 through both houses, and, as the record shows, were passed, 
 one immediately following the other. The respective corpora- 
 tions, having been organized under these laws, became antago- 
 nistic to each other. The Canal Company striving to add 
 railroad privileges to the powers it already possessed, and the 
 Railroad Company with equal effort striving to prevent the 
 bestowal of such powers. After repeated conflicts in the halls 
 of the Legislature, their rivalry was brought to a termination 
 in 1831 by the passage of what was called “the Marriage 
 Act,” whereby the two companies were consolidated into an 
 organization known as “the Joint Companies,” and their 
 several interests made mutual. This consolidation of interest 
 made them, by far, the most powerful corporate body in the 
 State, and gave to them an influence from that hour which has 
 proved, by all subsequent experience, to be irresistible. They 
 signalized the development of this power by demanding and 
 obtaining from the Legislature in the very next year, that 
 derogatory and injurious grant known by the name of “ the 
 Monopoly Privileges.'*^ 
 
8 
 
 By this grant, for the paltry sum of one hundred thousand 
 dollars, payable in the stock of the companies, accompanied with 
 a guaranty that the transit duties reserved to the State and the 
 dividends upon the stock thus donated should at no time be 
 less than thirty thousand dollars ($ 30 , 000 ), the Legislature con- 
 ferred upon these companies the exclusive right to carry pas- 
 sengers and merchandise between the cities of New York and 
 Philadelphia by railroad, and went so far as to declare that it 
 should not be lawful at any time thereafter for the State her- 
 self to authorize any other railroad to compete in business with 
 these companies without having first obtained their consent so 
 to do. 
 
 Looking back at these grants through the light of more than 
 thirty ( 30 ) years’ experience, the transaction seems most mar- 
 velous. That the Legislature of a State lying between the 
 great markets of the Western Continent, having a knowledge 
 of the value of unrestricted transpoitation of all the products 
 of her citizens to these markets, how entirely the value of every 
 species of manufacture or merchandise within heYborders must 
 depend upon the rapidity, ease and cheapness of such transpor- 
 tation, should place the key of every man’s prosperity in the 
 hands of a soulless corporation, with almost unlimited power 
 to tax him according to its own selfish dictates, is wonderful 
 indeed. But it is still more wonderful that the representatives 
 of a free and sovereign State should voluntarily consent to 
 abdicate their own sovereignty in a matter of such^vast im- 
 portance to their entire constituencies, and place shackles' upon 
 the law-making power only to be removed by the consent of 
 the corporate creature they had made.. Yet such is the spec- 
 tacle, and gazing upon it, we cannot doubt the truth of those 
 traditions which have come down to us respecting the insidious 
 means which ivere used to accomplish this end. 
 
 By the charter of the Camden and Amboy Railroad Com- 
 
9 
 
 pany, the State reserved the right to purchase the works 
 and all the equipment at the end of thirty ( 30 ) years from the 
 completion of the road, at its appraised value, not to exceed 
 cost ; and in the charter of the Canal Company, the right was 
 reserved to purchase it at the expiration of fifty ( 50 ) years. 
 Aside from these reservations, the two charters were perpetual 
 and by the terms of the Monopoly Grant, it also would be 
 perpetual unless the State should purchase. 
 
 In 1854 , the sterling bonds of the Joint Companies, being 
 about to mature, the companies desired to renew the loan. 
 They were met by the bond-holders with the objection that in 
 sixteen years the right of the State to purchase the road would 
 mature, and a loan extending beyond that time might lead to 
 undesirable entanglements. To meet this objection, the Joint 
 Companies again applied to the Legislature, asking that the 
 time at which the State might exercise the privilege of taking 
 the railroad upon an appraisement should be extended until 
 the year 1888 , and fixed the same year as the time when the 
 right to take the canal should mature. The business of the 
 companies had, down to this date, proved immensely produc- 
 tive. Their regular annual dividends were twelve per cent 
 Their extra dividends averaged four per cent.^ making some 
 sixteen per cent. ^ with a business largely on the increase. It is 
 plain to every intelligent mind, that such a road, if built with- 
 out wasteful extravagance, must be worth more than double 
 what it cost, and yet the State had the right to take it at sim- 
 ple cost. ISTo man can doubt that the right to take the road, 
 when it should mature in 1868 , would be worth in the market 
 at least four million dollars ($ 4 , 000 , 000 ) more than cost. Yet 
 we see these companies, in the plenitude of their power, ex- 
 torting from the Legislature a postponement of this valuable 
 right for twenty years, without one dollar of compensation or 
 of equivalent of any kind. A right worth this vast sum is 
 
10 
 
 boldly taken by this giant corporation from the people of !N'ew 
 Jersey without consulting them, and applied exclusively to its 
 own benefit. We venture to say that the legislation of no 
 State in this Union presents a parallel to this. 
 
 In postponing the right of the State to purchase the works 
 at cost until 1888, the Legislature, however, stipulated that 
 the Monopoly Grant should be no further extended, and that 
 it should expire by its own limitation on the 31st of December 
 of this current year. Its existence is, therefore, now limited, 
 not by years but by months. It will speedily pass away and 
 be among the things which literally belong to the barbarous 
 ages. As its existence draws to a close, it is important for the 
 people of New Jersey to realize that with its termination will 
 dawn a new era in the progress of the State. 
 
 The policy pursued by the monopoly during all the years of 
 its existence has been one of eminent selfishness. It has re- 
 garded itself as the despot, and the people as its victims. It has 
 foregone no opportunity to press heavily upon the growth and 
 business of the State, when by so doing it could increase its 
 own revenues. It first projected its line of road from Amboy 
 to Bordentown through an almost barren waste of country, 
 without a populous city or village upon its route, showing a 
 total disregard for the wants of the larger communities. It 
 refused to build a double track, although its way was literally 
 clogged with freight, until the Congress of the United States 
 held over it the rod of an air line. It has distorted the natu- 
 ral railroad system of the State by compelling the minor roads 
 to become its tributaries. In its charges for travel and transpor- 
 tation it greatly exceeds the companies of any other State in 
 the Union, whose roads are of equal cost and have equal facili- 
 ties. Indeed its fares will average nearly one hundred per 
 cent, higher than many of the best conducted roads in the 
 country. It will readily be perceived that its impositions 
 
11 
 
 upon the traveling and commercial public have been enormous. 
 That under the protection of its monopoly feature, it has ex- 
 tracted millions of dollars from the community, which it never 
 earned and to which, under enlightened legislation, it could 
 never have been entitled. With these enormous gains, thus 
 wrung from the pockets of the community, it has installed a 
 system of bribery and corruption throughout the State, be- 
 ginning in the halls of the Legislature and extending through 
 courts, juries and the press to the very ballot boxes themselves. 
 Thus it has made the people pay from their own pockets for 
 the very poison which was sapping the foundation of the public 
 health and destroying the vitality of the Government. 
 
 Its negative influence has been equally damaging with its 
 positive acts. With steady purpose it has refused to allow 
 any legislation which should give to one-half the State, and 
 that the most productive half, a ready access to the markets 
 of New York. West Jersey has a soil, a climate, and a body 
 of fertilizing marls, adapted to easy tillage and capable of pro- 
 ducing fruits and vegetables, to the value annually of millions 
 of dollars. New York with her great wealth and her million 
 of inhabitants demands those very products. Her health and 
 comfort require them. She is ready to pay the largest price 
 for all such commodities delivered to her in fresh condition. 
 Here is the market and here is the supply, but the monopoly 
 stands as a barier between them. No fruits, no vegetables, 
 no productions of the farmer of West Jersey must reach the 
 craving market of New York unless by the roundabout process 
 of the freight-clogged roads which Camden & Amboy has pro 
 vided, and paying into its treasury at least double charges. 
 Thousands of baskets of valuable fruit annually rot unable to 
 reach a market in time ; and while Philadelphia is glutted to 
 overflow. New York is either fed with stale fruit or left with 
 a very scanty supply. It is a fact that the farmers of Dela- 
 
12 
 
 ware, Maryland, and even some parts of Virginia, have greater 
 facilities for reaching New York with their fruits than have a 
 large portion of the farmers of West Jersey. 
 
 The effect which this disastrous monopoly policy has had 
 upon the population, business and real estate interests of West 
 Jersey may he readily conceived. It has kept emigration from 
 her territory. It has kept down the price of her lands. It has 
 limited her productions and made her labor but half remunera- 
 tive. Her villages have not grown like those of the eastern 
 part of the State. Her manufactories are small in their de- 
 velopment and limited in their operations. Instead of being 
 the suburbs and garden of the metropolis, she is almost like a 
 foreign country, distantly removed from the commerce and the 
 market of the great city. It is safe to say that the value of 
 her property to-day would have been twenty millions of dollars 
 ($20,000,000) greater than it is if the miserably selfish policy 
 of Camden & Amboy had never existed ; and the State at 
 large but for that policy would to-day have had a population 
 of a million. 
 
 We have adverted to these aspects of the case as introduc- 
 tory to the question as to what it is now our duty to do. We 
 see what have been the evils arising out of this monopoly 
 legislation. They are tremendous. But so long as that legis- 
 lation was regarded as binding, there seemed to be no remedy. 
 This evil now ceases by its own limitation. Sore as has been 
 the trial the people have kept their faith. Although doubting 
 the validity of the contract, they have not attempted to break 
 it. They have patiently bided their time and it has now 
 arrived. It is the object of this convention from which 
 emanates this address to ask of our fellow citizens throughout 
 the entire State, and irrespective of every political party, to 
 unite with us in procuring the passage of a general railroad 
 law. With such a law upon our statute book, the dormant 
 
13 
 
 powers of the State will spring forth into activity. Let every 
 county, every town, that has the business to support a rail- 
 road and the ability ’to build it, have one. Let every farmer 
 have the readiest access to the best market. Give to every 
 manufacturer increased facilities for obtaining his raw material 
 and sending to market his products.^ Let the idle marl-beds 
 of West Jersey be actively worked. Her hundreds of thou- 
 sands of acres of idle lands be enriched. Emigrants will soon 
 find them. Population and production will double and triple. 
 Values will increase -in proportion, until under this policy so 
 productive a section as West Jersey will become the most 
 prosperous community in the vicinity of New York. 
 
 Under the policy of a general railroad law, the people of 
 every county of the State will be benefitted. Every Winter 
 witnesses some forty or fifty applications to the Legislature 
 for railroad charters. They succeed or fail, not so much accord- 
 ing to their merits as to the log-rolling skill of their supporters. 
 With a general law every railroad needed in the State could 
 be built when wanted, and there is no part of our territory 
 which would not be greatly benefitted thereby. We have 
 only to look at the adjoining State of New York to see the 
 advantages of such a law. Besides the numerous roads, rival 
 in character, which extend from the Metropolis through the 
 State, every city — we might almost say every village — has 
 acquired, under the general law of that State, its railroad facil- 
 ities. Instead of paying /owr cents per mile for travel, as in 
 our State, under the monopoly system, under the general law 
 system of the State of New York but two cents per mile is 
 paid, and yet the stock of the Harlem, Hudson River and 
 New York Central Roads are as favorite investments with the 
 capitalist, who wishes to combine security with profit, as is 
 that of the Camden and Amboy. In Pennsylvania the people 
 are demanding a general railroad law. They are organizing 
 
14 
 
 to resist the power of the overshadowing railroad corporation 
 of that State — and they will succeed. Shall New Jersey be 
 the only State which dares not legislate in the interest of the 
 people? Shall we again sell our birthright for a mess of 
 pottage ? 
 
 There is no impediment to the passage of such a law, but 
 the resistance which the monopoly will make to it. You will' 
 remember that they are a collossal power. That they unite 
 under one influence the caifltal and the personel of the follow- 
 ing corporations : — The Camden and Ariiboy Company, The 
 Delaware and Raritan Canal (company, The West Jersey 
 Railroad Company, The New Jersey Railroad and Transporta- 
 tion Company, The Salem Railroad Company, The Camden 
 and Mount Holly Railroad Company, The Burlington and 
 Mount Holly Railroad Company, The Jamesburg and Free- 
 hold Railroad Company, The Belvidere Delaware Railroad 
 Company, The Flemington Railroad Company, The Milville 
 and Glasborough Railroad Company, The Rocky Hill Rail- 
 road Company, the Milville and Cape May Railroad Com- 
 pany, The Perth Amboy Railroad Company, The Sea Shore 
 Railroad Company, The Camden Ferry Company, The Jersey 
 City Ferry Company, The Hoboken Ferry Company, The 
 Trenton Delaware Bridge Company, and The Trenton and 
 New Brunswick Turnpike Company. Their (‘confederate or- 
 ganizations wield a capital of forty million dollars ($40,000,000). 
 They have thousands of employees who are scattered through 
 almost every county in the State ; they have never failed to 
 move with united purpose when seeking to accomplish an 
 object. They never hesitate at the description of means to be 
 used, and they consider themselves invincible in the lobbies of 
 the Legislature. All their power will be exerted to prevent 
 the passage of a general railroad law, because, by the passage 
 of such a law, they well know they will be compelled to deal 
 
15 
 
 fairly and justly by the community or witness the speedy 
 creation of one or more rival roads. 
 
 Now, in the face of such an opposition, can we procure the 
 passage of such a law ? We answer. Yes ! Upon this ques- 
 tion the people of New Jersey will divide according to their 
 manhood and virtue on the one side, and the subservient, the 
 corrupt and unprincipled on the other. It cannot be that a 
 people as intelligent as Jerseymen proverbially are, with such 
 plain inducements set before them, and every principle of right 
 to stimulate them, will neglect to combine in securing the 
 passage of this measure. Let us constantly keep it before the 
 people that their interest in this question is only to be meas- 
 ured by millions of dollars. That they have only to combine 
 and manifest their power at the ballot box to secure the end. 
 The monopoly will rely, in a large measure, as heretofore, 
 upon corrupting the Legislature, when chosen, and inducing it 
 to betray the public. Let us watch every attempt of this 
 character, and woe to the man who is found a traitor. Let 
 him be held up to the public scorn and indignation, shunned 
 by the community and loathed by all who know him. 
 
 We say confidently then, fellow-citizens, that the attainment 
 of this desirable end is entirely within your power. Carefully 
 select pure and sterling men to represent you in the Legisla- 
 ture, or, if need be, to fill the Executive chair, you will soon 
 have the law-making power ready to respond cheerfully to 
 the public will. 
 
 But, should the monopoly bailie us in this, we can carry our 
 cause to a higher tribunal, where the voice of the people will 
 be surely heard, and where the gold of the monopoly will be 
 despised. By the Constitution of the United States the power 
 to regulate inter-state commerce has been exclusively con- 
 ferred upon Congress. That body has exercised this power 
 from the foundation of the Government by supervising the 
 
16 
 
 navigation of the rivers within our boundary. More recently 
 it has prescribed rules for the regulation of all trade upon the 
 inland waters, carried on by means of vessels propelled by 
 steam, and more recently still it has entered upon legislation, 
 prescribing rules for that commerce when moved on land by 
 means of steam power. No sound distinction can be drawn 
 between the powers to regulate upon the land and upon the 
 water. It is clear then that this power resides in Congress, 
 and that the obstructions heretofore and at present placed by 
 the Camden and Amboy, as barriers to inter-state commerce, 
 are of sufficient national importance to call for Congressional 
 action. They can charter an air-line road, and thus place 
 Washington within five (5) hours of New York. They can 
 declare the Raritan Bay and Camden and Atlantic Roads 
 lawful structures and competent to transport through passen- 
 gers and merchandise. They can authorize the Central Rail- 
 road of New Jersey to make a spur from Bound Brook to the 
 Delaware River, and establish it as a post route. They can 
 authorize military roads wherever, in their sound discretion, 
 they are required. They can regulate the rates of travel, 
 within reasonable limits, throughout the country. In a word, 
 the power to regulate inter-state commerce is one of vast 
 scope, equal to the overturning of all local monopolies and the 
 deliverance of the people from the evils of the grasping selfish- 
 ness of corporations. The granting of this power to Congress 
 was one of the great necessities out of which arose the Federal 
 Government. Under the old articles of Confederation, the 
 disposition of the several States to vex each other with partial 
 regulations touching their commercial intercourse, and the 
 damaging effect of this disposition upon the trade, made it 
 manifest to every patriotic mind that this power must be sur- 
 rendered by the States to the Federal Government, if a har- 
 monious union was to be obtained. It was so surrendered, 
 
17 
 
 New Jersey being the first State to move in that direction, 
 and it does not lie in the power of New Jersey now to resume 
 that with which she has thus parted. 
 
 We are aware that a high Court in our State has placed 
 itself in a doubtful position upon this question. In a case in 
 which the monopoly was not interested, it decided by a unani- 
 mous voice that the State had not the power to burden inter- 
 state commerce passing across her territory. That the sole power 
 to regulate that commerce was in Congress, and that any legis- 
 lation on the part of the State, tending clearly to that end, 
 was unconstitutional and void. And the same high Court, in a 
 more recent decision, where the monoply was directly inter- 
 ested, decided by a divided vote that the burdens imposed 
 upon inter-state commerce by that legislation, which saddled 
 upon it an enormous and unscrupulous monopoly, with power 
 to tax it one hundred per cent, above legitimate charges, it 
 paying a tithe of its plunder into the treasury of the State, 
 were entirely constitutional and were in no way afiected by 
 the Constitution of the United States. And the same high 
 tribunal, by an obiter dictnm in the same case, doubted the 
 power of Congress to afibrd to the people of this State and the 
 commerce of the Union any relief whatever from these extor- 
 tions. We do not agree with this latter decision of the Court. 
 We know the influences which surround it. Its reasoning is 
 not satisfactory ; and looking elsewhere for judicial light we 
 find that the Courts of the United States, removed from all 
 local influences, and viewing the question from a national 
 point of view, have already uttered opinions diametrically the 
 reverse of that held by the New Jersey Court. Judge Miller, 
 of the Circuit Court of the United States for Iowa, in deliver- 
 ing the opinion of that Court in a hotly contested case, thus 
 emphatically pronounces the law : 
 
 “ Another means of transportation equal in importance to 
 
18 
 
 the steamboat has also come into existence since the constitu- 
 tion was adopted, a means by which merchandise is trans- 
 ported across the States and Kingdoms in the same vehicle in 
 which it started. The railroad now shares with the steamboat 
 the monopoly of the carrying trade. The one has with great 
 benefit been subjected to the control of the salutary Congres- 
 sional legislation because it is an instrument of commerce. Is 
 there any reason why the other should not ? However this 
 question may be answered in regard to that commerce which 
 is conducted wholly within the limits of a State, and is there- 
 fore neither foreign commerce nor commerce among the States, 
 it seems to me that when these roads become parts of great 
 highways of our Union, transporting a commerce which em- 
 braces many States, and destined, as some of these roads are, 
 to become the channels through which the nations of Europe 
 and Asia shall interchange their commodities, there can be no 
 reason to doubt that to regulate them is to regulate commerce 
 both with foreign nations and among the States, and that to 
 refuse to do this is a refusal to discharge one of the most im- 
 portant duties of the Federal Government. As already inti- 
 mated the shackles with which the different States fettered 
 commerce in their selfish efforts to benefit themselves at the 
 expense of their confederates, was one of the main causes 
 which led to the formation of our present Constitution. The 
 wonderful growth of that commerce since it has been placed 
 exclusively under the control of the Federal Government, has 
 justified the wisdom of our fathers. But are we to remit 
 the most valuable part of that commerce again to the control 
 of the States, and to all the consequent vexations and burdens 
 which the States may impose, through whose territories it 
 must be carried on ? And must all this be permitted because 
 the carrying is done by a method not thought of when the 
 Constitution was framed ? 
 
19 
 
 “ For myself I must say that I have no doubt of the right of 
 Congress to prescribe all needful and proper regulations for 
 the conduct of this immense traffic over any railroad which 
 has voluntarily become part of one of those lines of inter-state 
 communication, or to authorize the creation of such roads 
 where the purposes of inter-state transportation of persons and 
 property justif y or requ ire 
 
 We believe this to be the supreme law of the land, and 
 failing in our efforts to obtain redress by State legislation, we 
 shall invoke the aid of Congress, and never cease our efforts 
 until we are heard. 
 
 People of New Jersey ! We earnestly appeal to you to 
 unite as one man in this great cause. Throw aside all petty 
 differences which may prevent your united action. In this 
 question is involved the sovereignty of the people in New 
 Jersey. Shall we rule, or shall a corporation rule us? Shall 
 New Jersey be the only State that perpetuates bondage? If 
 we succeed in this we become the masters of our own desti- 
 nies. Our halls of Legislature will regain their ancient purity. 
 Our Courts will utter independent opinions, based upon un- 
 doubted law, without fear of accountability to a malign power. 
 We open to every citizen the best market on the continent. 
 We take from his shoulders a burden of taxation. We double 
 and triple the value of his lands, and secure to him and to his 
 children prosperity and the blessings of freedom forever. 
 
 Resolved. That we hail with joy the opening of the year 
 during which the monopoly compact between the State and 
 joint companies expires by its own limitation; and we 
 join with every patriotic Jerseyman in congratulations that 
 the years of our oppression are nearly passed, and the day of 
 our deliverance is at hand. 
 
 Resolved., That while the people of the State have kept their 
 plighted faith, contracted in an evil hour with the monopoly, 
 
20 
 
 for more than thirty years, that corporation in return has op- 
 pressed the whole business community by its exorbitant charges 
 and inadequate appliances ; has grossly and habitually inter- 
 meddled in politics; has tampered with juries, biassed the 
 courts and corrupted the legislature, until, throughout the 
 length and breadth of the Union, injustice and wrong are 
 synonymous with that of “ the State of Camden and Amboy.'''' 
 
 Resolved.^ That in a mere pecuniary point of view it can 
 readily be proved, that by her disastrous bargain with Cam- 
 den and Amboy, the State has lost hundreds of thousands 
 of dollars of revenue and tens of millions of dollars in values 
 by the impossibility for property to appreciate as it would 
 have done under a free railroad system. 
 
 Resolved, That with the proximity of New Jersey to New 
 York city, the great central point of emigration, it is plain 
 that one million acres of uncultivated lands now lying waste 
 within our borders would be speedily settled by an industrious 
 and thrifty population and made productive to the amount of 
 millions of dollars annually, were the barriers interposed by 
 the monopoly removed, and the blessings of a General Rail- 
 road Law secured to us. 
 
 Resolved, That we hear with alarm and contempt the giv- 
 ings-out of the creatures of the monopoly that, although its 
 legal character is about to expire, it can and will hold the 
 same exclusive privileges by so controlling the elections and 
 the legislature with its money as to forever prevent the pas- 
 sage of any law authorizing the creation of any rival road 
 across the State, and we call upon all Jerseymen, of every 
 political party, to rally as one man against this common 
 enemy. Tho right to make or to forbid the making of laws 
 for ourselves and our children has never been conferred upon 
 Camden and Amboy, and they must no longer exercise it. 
 
 Resolved, That we deeply sympathise with the people of the 
 
21 
 
 counties of Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Camden and parts of 
 Burlington, Salem and Cape May for the great wrong done them, 
 in the recent outrage committed in the name and by the means 
 of the monopoly upon them, by which their property is de- 
 pressed in value, their labor rendered unproductive, their per- 
 ishable produce left to rot without a market and their section 
 of the State, for which nature has done so much, thrown back 
 at least a quarter of a century in the race of progress and 
 prosperity ; and we counsel them, laying aside all differences, 
 to unite as one man to vindicate their rights at the ballot-box, 
 assured that such a union will lead to victory. 
 
 Resolved^ That we hold railroads to be the main channels 
 of inter-state commerce, and that the power to regulate that 
 commerce, has been, by the States, conferred exclusively upon 
 the Federal Grorernrnent^ so that no State can constitutionally 
 impose any tax or other burden, whether directly by its 
 officers, or indirectly, but more oppressively by a corporate 
 monopoly, upon the free transit of passengers and merchandise 
 across such State, by any existing mode of conveyance what- 
 ever, and that all legislation tending to forbid other railroads , 
 from carrying between Philadelphia and New York, or com- 
 pelling the exclusive use of the Camden and Amboy roads is 
 unconstitutional and void. 
 
 Resolved, That we call upon the Congress of the United 
 States most earnestly to exercise the power to regulate inter- 
 state commerce by railroads, as conferred upon them by the 
 Constitution, so that the burdens, inequalities, vexations, hin- 
 drances, injustice and extortions which now exist may be 
 removed. 
 
 Resolved, That we cordially agree with the high Court of 
 Errors of our State in their learned decision in the Erie case, 
 that the taxation of transportation across the State “ must of 
 necessity be a regulation of commerce within the prohibitory 
 
22 
 
 clause of the Constitution — that for a State to exercise its 
 law-making prerogative, “ either so far as to burden such 
 transportation, or to prevent it altogether, is a regulation of 
 commerce which falls under the prohibition of the Constitu^ 
 tion of the United States and that we as cordially and 
 entirely disagree with the same High Court of Errors in their 
 very labored, but very illogical and transparently partial 
 opinion in the recent Camden and Amboy case, “ that it would 
 be difficult to find any legal impediment within the power of 
 other States, or of the United States, which could be inter- 
 posed so as to prevent this State, in the exercise of her plea- 
 sure, from closing up or prohibiting the use of any highway 
 within her domain.” 
 
 Resolved^ That in all matters respecting the regulation of 
 inter-state commerce, the transit of passengers and goods from 
 one State to another, the transit of troops and munitions of 
 war, and the transit of the United States mails, the legislation 
 of Congress is supreme^ the laws of any State, or the decision 
 of any State Courts, to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 Resolved, That now that state faith cannot be allowed to 
 stand in the way, we ask of our representatives in the legisla- 
 ture the passage of a liberal General Railroad Laio, under 
 which every section of the State can have whatever railroads 
 their people wish to build, every farmer and manufacturer can 
 choose his own market, every land-owner can make his lands 
 saleable, a system which will speedily double the production 
 of the State, and largely increase her wealth and population. 
 
 Resolved, That we this day proceed to organize a general 
 railroad or anti-monopoly party, whose platform shall consist 
 of two planks, to advocate the passage of a general railroad 
 law, and to oppose the grayiting or continuing of any exclu- 
 sive privileges or immunities to any corporatioii within the 
 
23 
 
 ■limits or jurisdiction of New Jersey ; and upon this line, in the 
 language of the greatest general of the age, “ we will fight it 
 out,” until success shall attend our united efforts at the ballot 
 boxes. 
 
 Resolved^ That the proceedings of this meeting be signed 
 by the officers thereof, and that the secretary cause copies to 
 be presented to the Governor, and to each of the members of 
 the State Senate and General Assembly, and that he send 
 copies also to each of the Senators and Representatives in 
 Congress from this State, with the request that they lay the 
 same before the respective bodies of which they are members. 
 
 Resolved^ That the chairman appoint a State Executive 
 Committee, of three ( 3 ) from each Congressional District in 
 the State and five ( 5 ) from the County of Essex, of 
 
 whom shall constitute a quorum, who shall hold their first 
 meeting at the call of their chairman, in the City of Newark, 
 and meet thereafter upon their own adjournment, whose busi- 
 ness it shall be to devise and build up an organization, 
 irrespective of the now existing political parties, and who shall 
 be further charged with the duty of calling a State Conven- 
 tion of all the friends and supporters of a General Railroad 
 Law^ to assemble at some time after the adjournment of the 
 present Legislature, to consider and determine what nomina- 
 tions shall be made and what steps taken to secure our success 
 in the ensuing State elections. 
 
 Resolved^ That the committee be instructed to have pre- 
 pared forthwith, and laid before the Legislature for their action, 
 a liberal general railroad law, and upon the presentation of 
 such bill to the Legislature, that they have copies of it printed 
 and sent to the friends of the measure in every county in the 
 State with a request that they call public meetings and invite 
 
24 
 
 the people to instruct their Senators and Representatives to 
 vote for the measure. 
 
 Resolved, That memorials to the Legislatvire, praying for 
 the passage of a general railroad law, be circulated by the 
 executive committee throughout the State for the signatures of 
 such as are friendly to the measure. 
 
 To the People of the State of New Jersey : 
 
 The following is a form of Memorial to the Legislature, praying for the 
 passage of a General Railroad Law. Copy this form upon a sheet of paper, 
 get all the signatures you can, and then send it to one of the members in 
 the Legislature representing your county, to be presented to that body. " The 
 people are going into this movement as a Committee of the Whole : 
 
 MEMOBIAL. 
 
 7o the Honorable the Senate and General Assembly of the 
 State of New Jersey : 
 
 The undersigned, citizens of the County of 
 
 in the State of New Jersey, respectfully request the passage 
 of a General Railroad Law for the said State, similar to 
 such general law in existence in other States, by which the 
 people will be enabled to build railroads for their benefit in 
 every section of the State where they may need or desire 
 them.